Wounds of Time
by Jae Mikhun
Summary: A lingering tale across time full of wounds that scar the body, soul, and heart. Will these wounds ever heal, or be left untreated? Search for the answers in a journey through time scattered with friendship, family, love, life, death and suffering.
1. Prologue: Awakening

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix, and any of their characters.

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**A/N: **This is my very first fan fiction, and I hope you like it and stick through the end! The prologue is brief, but it sets up the "mystery factor" of the story. There will be lots of mysteries in Wounds of Time, and I hope they confuse you. Also, the genre of this story should really be Action/Adventure/Romance/Drama/Mystery/Fantasy.

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**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Prologue- Awakening**

_The hourglass of time holds many possibilities, and the one grain that we live in is just a part of something superior. It contains the things we hold on to very dearly, and when broken, the shards fall apart. Nothing in the universe can affix those pieces back together._

Far away from Balamb, in an underground somewhere deep in Esthar, a chamber containing a cluster of pods lay undisturbed. The room looked ancient as it bore old writings and symbols on the walls. Pictures of different creatures were amongst the depictions on the walls, as well as women and men that clutched glowing staves in their hands. Cold mist circled around mildly as a dusty, ancient machine whirred silently at the center of the dark chamber. Tiny, sharp icicles hung at the chilly roof that occasionally dropped lucid beads of water on the slippery floor.

Inside the numerous pods slept several naked women; their faces filled with serenity yet combined with cruelty. All of them encompassed long hair that covered their smooth, untouched bodies for years. The girls looked young, and none of them seemed to be at least at the age of forty. Not one of them moved a single part of their body as if they were frozen in time.

Rats and other animals occasionally dug their way into the chamber, but once they had suffered the solitude of the area, they immediately left and went back into the surface. Not even a single human has set foot in this chamber for so long that the place had seemed to be forgotten by anyone. The only entrance to the containment was a tattered steel door that was blocked by sand and rocks from the outside of the room. The place was clearly buried; it was as if the room was filled with pure evil that it had to be contained or else chaos will reign over the world.

Then suddenly, the only door of the room exploded into fiery pieces. Sand and rocks poured inside the chamber, but it was very easily stopped after a matter of seconds as a magical barrier blocked its passage to the area. A woman and man emerged from the sands and stepped inside the room, breaking the chain of years that marked the room forgotten.

The girl was the spell caster, and she had long, straight brown hair that almost covered both of her eyes. She wore a dull, blue robe that had several tiny holes, which showed her dark skin. The woman swept the dust off her hair as she approached the console of the old machine.

"It's been left here for years," she muttered to her company.

Carrying a bright crystal that lifted the darkness of the room, the man that accompanied her examined the pods. He wore the same dull robe as hers except that the holes of his clothing were patched. His short, blue hair was kept very untidy to one side of his face. He slowly brushed the dust off the pod he was looking at, and saw one of the several women that slept inside the chamber.

He started to speak. "And we're going to free them. Imagine how they would help us." The man continued to peek on the other pods.

"Yes. I can now see our goals being accomplished, and that time will be very soon," softly replied the woman in front of the console. She started to press some buttons but nothing happened. After a few minutes, the girl got frustrated and struck the console with her fists. When her rage subsided, she raised her hand above her head and chanted the word 'Fira'.

A ball of searing fire formed between her palm, and as she released it, the ball grew larger. She directed the flames to collide with the console and in a split second, the whirring stopped. The machine that controlled the pods was engulfed in flames. As the burning continued, a low hissing sound was heard inside the room. The pods slowly opened, and the frosty mist that covered the room touched the skins of the women deep in slumber.

The girl was clearly delighted at what had just happened, and she smiled as if she had won the biggest victory in her life. She approached the oldest-looking woman inside the pod at one of the very corners of the room. "Well, well, they're now freed from their prisons."

On the other corner of the room, the man knelt on his feet and touched the cheek of the girl inside the pod he was looking at. He brushed the stagnant hair of the woman and felt its cold surface. The male then touched her chin and examined the lady's eyes as he grinned. "All that's left is for them to awaken."

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**A/N: **It took me some time to work on this very dark prologue! There should be questions on your head right now as to who are these women and the people that freed them… Anyways, I would greatly appreciate any comments, suggestions, and questions about the story so far. I'm looking forward to it! 


	2. I: A Festival of All Sorts

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix, and any of their characters. (Yeah, we all wish that we own them.) The storyline and new characters (Millea, Daine, etc.) are the ones that I own.

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**Note:** What? I think I have no notes for my very first chapter… Anyways, just read through the whole chapter and I wish you stay for more after this! I'll be updating soon… Happy reading!

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**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**ACT 1**  
BEGINNING OF PATHWAYS

**Chapter I - A Festival of All Sorts**

_It has been five years since Squall, Rinoa and their friends have defeated Ultimecia. The planet, Eterna, had been recovering from the wounds that had pierced it, but it is only in the process. It is still far from recovery. But is recovery, and more so, the future, guaranteed? They are not, unless you already know what happens next._

The sun was just starting to set, but Balamb Garden was already lit with colorful lights that glittered radiantly. Beautiful decorations hung from the windows and walls of the Garden such as banners that said "The most exciting day of the year!" or "If you miss this, you'll be sad like a malboro." Fancy lanterns in the form of different shapes dangled from the light posts as they created beautiful light effects. The Garden walls were painted with grand and multicolored murals that you could just sit and stare at them for hours.

Booths and tents of all kinds lined up the Garden grounds, and the place looked like a carnival. Various kinds of talent shows took place in the event, and many moogles, chobobos and moombas are seen wandering around the festival. There even was a Ferris wheel at the very center of the grounds, and the line of people that waited to ride it never diminished. Energy and enthusiasm just surged at this time, for it was the Balamb Garden Festival of the year.

Different sorts of noise resonated everywhere at the festival. There were bells ringing; drums thumping; voices chattering; hundreds of feet thudding; it sure was a lively event. Screams from civilians were also occasionally heard that signaled trouble. Big speakers were scattered throughout the area as music loudly played through them. The current song, "Simple and Clean", hyped the people even more.

When the song changed to "Show Me Your Hotdogs," a guy with many kiss marks on his face on the other side of the happening hummed merrily to the beat inside the Kissing Booth. He had blonde hair and a tattoo covered the left side of his face. His name was Zell Dincht.

"Come right up! Come right up! Kisses only for 5 gil!" shouted the man at the girls who passed by.

At the Moomba Show entrance booth sat Quistis Trepe, a tall woman who had orange hair and fair skin. She constantly smiled to the people who passed her and didn't let one person go inside unpaid. As Monty the Moomba's show prepared to start, familiar faces stood outside the booth and asked for tickets. They were headmaster Squall Leonhart and his girlfriend, Rinoa Heartilly.

"Hey! How's the festival?" asked Quistis the couple who arrived.

"It's great! We're riding the Ferris wheel after we watch the show. You should come," replied the beautiful black-haired woman with an eager smile.

"_Again?_ Give me a rest. We've been there for three times already," said the man beside her. He had brown untidy hair that covered the scar on his forehead.

"But Squall-

Quistis shook her head. "Thanks Rinoa, but I think I'll pass. I have so much stuff to do after this. And besides, I wouldn't want to disturb you and the headmaster here."

The couple blushed.

"Wha-

"Whatever," said Quistis before the word was even finished. "Just like always."

"Two tickets," said Squall before anyone could start to speak again.

"Two tickets it is," said Quistis. "Have a good time!"

The festival continued on for hours. As the night grew deeper, the crowd started to increase as people from Balamb Town started to join the Festival. Reporters from Timber also arrived as they captured the joyous event that was taking place. The people grew more enthusiastic and waved at the reporters just to be seen on the television.

When it was nearing midnight, the crowd started to gather near the decorated stage that was just rebuilt on the quad. Many of the booths and tents were already closing, and most of the talent shows of the festival already ended. The people that worked in the booths were finally finished their jobs for the day and they delightedly joined the crowd in front of the stage. The lengthy waiting line for the Ferris wheel was finally gone, and it also has shut down as the Garden prepared for the grand finale of the night.

A SeeD nervously sat at the backstage of the quad as she waited for the commencement signal of the concert. As seconds slowly passed by, a tall and dark-haired instructor finally approached her behind the curtains. The SeeD being deep in thoughts, the instructor mildly surprised her and made her sit on the nearest chair.

"Whoa… What's up?" said the SeeD as she sat on the chair. She tried to hide her anxiety and put on a smiling face.

The tall, blonde-haired male instructor grinned widely, as he knew she was faking her smile. He then started to speak.

"So, are you ready Millea? The band's waiting outside."

Her anxiety still growing, the SeeD fixed her wavy red hair for the tenth time in a row. She closed her green eyes and started to think. After some seconds went by, Millea Renecus finally looked at the man facing her, and her mouth crumbled as she opened it to speak. At first, no sound came out. With her second try, she finally got something to say.

"D-D-Daine, what do _you_ think? Of course I'm ready."

"You sure?"

Millea shakily laughed. This was her first concert in her whole life, and she didn't want to mess up one tiny word while she sang. She figured that if the crowd noticed that she had made a mistake, they would 'boo' her and that would be the end of her performance.

The female SeeD stood up. "Y-Yeah... I'm greatly, positively, entirely ready. I've never been _that_ nervous before-

When her spirit was just starting to rise, her words were halted as the guy pushed the curtain aside a few inches. The girl saw the huge crowd waiting for her. People were getting anxious and started to scream, and she was immediately scared that it caused her to sit on the chair again. She tightly clutched the arm rest of the chair.

"Uh, I never knew the Garden had this much people."

Daine Feryl smirked. "Well, people from the town and from other places came too, so that's why the crowd is so big."

Millea got on her feet again and started to peek behind the curtains. Once more, she scanned the horde of people. As the glistening fountain drew her attention, she noticed the reporters that lurked among the crowd as they recorded a video. The wide-eyed SeeD let go of the curtain and faced the man.

"And there're also reporters! I'm on TV!"

"You didn't know?"

Millea tried to calm herself. She straightened her jacket and fixed her hair once again. Even though her boots were clean, she dusted it off one more time. The girl looked at a mirror and made sure that nothing dirty was on her face. The woman sighed for one final time. "Okay. Let's do this."

"Good luck! I know you'll do great!" remarked Daine as she stepped out of the backstage.

The host announced her name as the SeeD was finally on stage. She took a few seconds to look at the mass of people. The audience started to grow louder and several people shouted her name. They waited for her performance.

She approached the microphone and gulped. Then, the girl started to speak. "This is my very first performance in my entire life, and I hope you people like it. This is 'Eyes on Me' written by Julia Heartilly."

As the girl started to sing, the noise that came from the audience lowered down a bit. Many of them knew of the song before, and it wasn't exactly a song that would make you jump off your feet. It was a bittersweet song, and it was written before Rinoa's mother died on a car crash.

"_Whenever sang my songs,_

_On the stage, on my own_

_Whenever said my words,_

_Wishing they would be heard_

"My mother's song…" remarked Rinoa as she was embraced by Squall. They leaned on a lamp post as they watched the show. As the SeeD continued to sing, Rinoa looked stern and was deep in thoughts.

"Why do you think your mother wrote this song?" asked Squall to his girlfriend. He turned to face Rinoa and saw her peaceful, shimmering eyes.

Rinoa eyed him back. "My father said that it was dedicated to someone she loved before they met."

The man started to wonder as he curled his forehead a slight inch. "I wonder who it was…"

_I saw you smiling at me_

_Was it real or just my fantasy?_

_You'd always be there in the corner_

_Of this tiny little bar_

Millea's confidence grew as she sang further into the song. She now managed to smile, and grabbed the microphone out of the microphone stand. The girl started to pace around the stage while she eyed her audience, and her devotion to music was evidently seen. Within seconds, she seemingly transformed into a singer that had years of experience. The audience didn't scare her anymore and she felt as if she was one with them.

_My last night here for you_

_Same old songs, just once more_

_My last night here with you_

_Maybe yes, maybe no?_

Squall turned to glance at Rinoa once more. Tears were strolling down from her eyes to her cheeks as she remembered her mother. Julia died early in Rinoa's life, and he knew that it must have been sad having no mother at the later parts of her life. She sobbed as her boyfriend stared at her.

"I miss her…" Rinoa said softly. She embraced her man even more tightly as she continued to cry in his shoulders.

"Don't worry… I'll always be here for you. I won't ever leave you…" he assured her with a deep and caring voice.

_I kind of liked it your way_

_How you shyly placed your eyes on me_

_Oh, did you ever know?_

_That I had mine on you_

_Darling, so there you are_

_With that look on your face_

_As if you're never-_

The song was interrupted. Screams were heard in the lobby, and she immediately became worried of the situation. The singer gazed at the direction of the voice, and a word that was familiar rang through the Garden.

"SORCERESSES!"

With that notion, clouds of smoke rose from the entrance of the Garden. An earsplitting sound that hinted an explosion was perceived, and that made a commotion among the audience. There clearly was trouble, and the headmaster swiftly went to the stage and got the microphone from Millea.

"Please don't panic… We're not sure of the situation yet, so I would kindly ask for you to remain here in the quad," he told the crowd who was starting to get suspicious of what was happening. "Quistis, Zell, Millea, Errol, and Fiona, come with me. Other SeeDs and instructors remain here and stand guard on the entrance of the quad."

As Squall and the others headed out for the corridor, Rinoa loomed at Squall and touched his arm. The pack was halted in their tracks, and they made room for them to talk privately.

"Be safe," she said briskly yet worryingly as the girl looked into his eyes once more.

"I will," he alleged. After he made his promise, he and the other five people he called resumed running towards the circular hallway of the Garden.

On the Quad, there were numerous questions and statements that were distinguished among the crowd. They were panicking and were almost out of control.

"What's happening?"

"Is it really true?"

"Are there really sorceresses in here?"

"We're gonna die!"

"We should go now!"

"I knew I shouldn't have come!"

To reduce the uproar, instructor Daine stepped up onto the stage with other entertainers, some moombas, moogles and chocobos. They were going to try their luck and make the audience happy once again. If they don't succeed, then even more complications might happen as the audience might run away and check out the cause of the screams. He arranged the cute creatures in line and whispered to the other entertainers. After their plan was finished, he went for the microphone and widely smiled at the audience.

"Welcome to the fantastic world of Final Fantasy!"

With that line, he caught some of the audience's attention and the noise started to die down a fraction. His plans were going great, and he could only hope for the funniest show he could ever make.

On the corridors, the headmaster and his company ran as quickly as they could. All of them had their weapons out; Quistis clutched her whip; Zell clad with his gloves as always; Millea with her staff; Errol gripping his axe; Fiona equipped with her kris; and Squall holding his gun blade.

"What do you think this is?" said Quistis as they ran to the lobby.

Millea grinned a bit. She wanted to lighten the atmosphere by believing that the commotion wasn't real. "It's probably a stupid joke by the Joke Committee."

Zell clenched his fists and rubbed his nose.

"Heh. If it were them, then let me smack their asses!"

Squall suddenly looked serious. He didn't want to think that it's real, but he couldn't stop thinking about the sorceresses. "Let's hope it's them."

As they came to the opening of the lobby, unwanted scenery stumbled upon them. Injured guards and several students were lying on the floor unconscious. The water of the fountain was frozen. The smell of fire was present in the air. Shards of cement lay clattered around. Several statues were cracked or broken. Numerous lights in the ceiling were blinking, and it was clear that the gate was blasted open.

A sweet and nasty voice greeted them out of the blue.

"More lokusts, I see."

The voice came from a blue-gowned woman with a long black hair. As Squall had assumed, there were sorceresses in the Garden. However, in his mind, he thought that there were probably only two or three. But in this case, the group of sorceresses was composed of ten. He and his comrades were surprised by this and were halted in their tracks.

"Who're you calling lokusts!" yelled Zell. He went into a battle stance and threw his fists up in the air.

Quistis held back Zell's arm to stop him from attacking. She slowly whispered to his ear. "Calm down Zell. Think before you do something. They're sorceresses."

"She's right," Millea said softly behind him.

When the anxious tattooed SeeD had finally backed down, Squall whispered to the SeeD named Errol beside him. "Go inform Xu and say that there are sorceresses in here."

The young lad replied with a nod and quickly ran to the corridor that led to the quad. Several sorceresses smirked because of this action, and a dark-haired sorceress yelled after him. "Run fast, boy!"

Not one of the sorceresses stopped the SeeD from going to the quad. As the lad was gone from sight, Squall stepped forward and questioned the sorceresses with a calm voice. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Behind him, Quistis moved her hands in different patterns. A transparent red light covered the group as she whispered "Shell!" She wanted to be cautious as she knew that there was going to be a dangerous battle ahead of them. And knowing their enemies, they frequently used magic in fights.

"Ooh… a low-level magic," uttered a yellow-gowned sorceress to the right of the leader as she noticed Quistis casting the spell. The woman then started to move her hands in different patterns as well. After the formations, she muttered, "Protect!" A light blue barrier covered the group of sorceresses to protect them from physical attacks.

When no one answered Squall's inquiry, he shouted, "Answer my question!"

The sorceress in blue grinned. She swept the fragments off her hair and dress. As she ended cleaning herself, she gazed directly at the headmaster and his allies. "We were just looking for something. You aren't mad, are you?"

A blonde-haired sorceress that stood beside the leader giggled. The woman approached her leader and gently murmured in her ear. "Oh, I think the lokust is."

Squall repeated his question with a vigorous voice. "What are you searching for?"

"What are we searching for? Hmm… I think I forgot. Let me think."

"Then think fast!"

The entire group of sorceress laughed. They were amused by how Squall reacted to their presence. They continued their happiness for a matter of seconds until the glove-wielding SeeD stomped his feet.

"What's so funny huh? I'll bet you'll be laughing when we beat the crap out of you!" Zell remarked to stop the laughing of the sorceresses.

His speech worked, and the laughter of the intruders ceased. The sorceress's leader finally talked again. She once more used her sweet voice but this time with a more serious tone. "Since you want some answers."

Blue light started to gather around the hands of the sorceress in the front. Small icicles started to appear above her, and she waved her hands in dissimilar directions as she started to form something. Tiny figures of two women were finally clear, and Squall and the others tried to make out who the figurines of ice represented.

Millea gasped. "That looks like-

Squall's eyes widened as the sorceress finished crafting the figurines of ice. He knew who the figures were and he knew he couldn't be wrong about it.

Fragments of ice shot everywhere as the icy figurines diminished. She then stepped forward to finally respond to Squall's question. "We're looking for Rinoa and Ellone."

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**A/N:** I edited the first chapter! I hope you like the revisions I made… Comments? Suggestions? Questions? All will be widely accepted! 


	3. II: The Lines that Divide

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix, and any of their characters. The storyline and new characters (Millea, Daine, etc.) are the ones that I own.

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**A/N: **This is the second chapter to my fan fiction, and I trust it's better than the first one. That's all I have to say, I think… I'm really at a lost for words right now… Just read through the chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

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**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Act 1 Beginning of Pathways  
Chapter 2 – The Lines that Divide**

_There are many borders that separate beings called creatures. It appears in many forms; it may be a border within the food pyramid, a border between countries, or even a border of communication and perspective. These borders create sides, and many sides have different sets of beliefs and methods, which in turn, create a divide._

There was a ringing silence at the lobby. Squall and his allies just confronted the group of sorceresses that arrived in the Garden and they were stunned with the sorceress's answer. Somehow, the headmaster knew that his loved ones were going to be in danger again. He had to do something now or else they would be taken away from him. Taken away… that was the incident he feared the most. Squall had changed ever since, and he can't live being alone anymore. The man wanted to protect them, and if he let these sorceresses obtain his girlfriend and Ellone, then his will to live would just expire slowly like a melting iceberg.

He started to think of Rinoa. Squall thought of the hundreds of moments they spent together in the past five years. The time when they went skiing on Trabia Resort where he broke his leg that it made Rinoa accompany him on his bedside for days; when Rinoa held a disastrous surprise party for Squall's 18th birthday in Esthar (an Ochu apparently ruined the party); when they had picnic at the top of the highest mountain of Centra; when they were alone on the Ragnarok for the first time; all these precious memories of Rinoa rushed through his head. Squall wanted to keep them forever and just not let them fade away.

And then, there was Ellone. She had always been there for Squall since they were little; helping him through his problems in life. The woman always offered him useful advice, and it always seemed to work. He remembered when Ellone helped him fix the troublesome situation where Rinoa thought that he was cheating on her with a stripper (when Irvine was the one who was having an affair with the girl); or when she defended him from getting beat up by Seifer when he was only five. He was very thankful of all the times she had come to his aid. He didn't want her guidance go to waste.

Leonhart firmly held his gun blade in front of him. He was prepared to fight for them once again, as he did five years ago. No matter what happens, he would protect them with his life. Whether it be a sorceress, a human, or any other vicious creature; Squall was not afraid to risk his life. He pointed his weapon to the intruders' direction. The man eyed their leader and valiantly gazed at her with blazing eyes.

"What do you want with them? Why have you come for them?" asked Squall.

The blue-gowned sorceress laughed at him once more. Her other comrades followed her lead and the place was filled with menacing laughter once again. One of the sorceresses even clapped as if she was watching an entertaining circus show that didn't seem to end. The group of sorceresses thought that his new question was even more ridiculous than the last one.

The leader managed to talk between her laughter. "What do _we_ want with them? Why have _we_ come for them? It's because _we_ want to!"

The wielder of the gun blade was finally fed up with all the talk and teasing.

"You'll never find them!" shouted Squall very angrily. Burning with rage, he didn't want to endure the mocking of the sorceresses any longer. "You'll have to go through me first!"

Amid his temper, he darted through the fragments of cement and the sea of bodies to his enemies. Trepe tried to hold him back, but she failed as his strength gushed like a mad behemoth. His fellowship, surprised by his sudden action, was suspended in their foothold as they were frozen in fear. They knew that he wouldn't stand a chance with a faction of sorceresses as large as they faced. The three women dared not to look, while Zell watched with his mouth widely open.

As the headmaster reached his target, he speedily slashed the sorceress in front. The woman didn't seem too surprised by his attack, and her laughter was replaced by an ample grin. Before he could strike her, the sorceress raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. With that motion, he was sent plummeting to the nearest damaged statue with a loud impact. The Headmaster Cid statue's head was sent flying while Squall was knocked down to the ground. Blood dripped from his right arm as he lay on the ground, lost in the sea of bodies.

"Stupid mistake," said the sorceress, and as she watched the man endure the pain, the other sorceresses smiled in delight.

Millea gasped at what had just happened. The other SeeD, Fiona, covered her eyes with fright. Not waiting for any other attack to happen again, Zell and Quistis immediately went to his aid. Zell tightened his fists and went into a battle stance as Trepe knelt down to her knees. She looked at Squall, her worries exemplifying with great speed. The woman brushed the fragments of the statue off the man. "Curaga!"

With the girl's White Magic spell, soft, white light descended upon the man's injured arm. The damage healed a bit, and Squall's pain was lifted a little in a short matter of time. He quickly tried to stand, but when he attempted to, he immediately fell on his back. Millea and Fiona rushed by his side as they helped the headmaster get back on his feet.

"T-Thanks," he managed to say in a low voice. When he finally handled to stand, he wiped the blood on his lips and gained a hold of his weapon once more. He was going to be more cautious this time, and he will, by any means, defeat them in this battle.

The SeeD with a tattoo crunched the bones of his finger and started to jab at the air. "Hell yeah! It's finally time for some action!"

The ex-instructor looked at Zell and managed to grin. "I know that I just dyed my hair, but I don't care if it gets ruined!" Quistis remarked.

The talented singer and the kris-wielding girl stood beside them and also prepared to fight. The five of them stood robustly together, all in their respective battle stances. Squall took a moment to look at his other four companions as he opened his mouth to whisper a word to each one of them. All four of them nodded support as they agreed to a plan.

On the other side of the battle lines, the dressed intruders were getting bored. Several of the women were murmuring something, while the leader was still grinning widely. The show was about to begin, and their side as well wanted to be the victors. In their minds, nothing would stop them from their goals. They must get Rinoa and Ellone, or else…

"Oh my. Are you going to attack us or bore us to-

Before the sorceress could finish her sentence and tease them again, Millea and Fiona raised their hands at the same time and waved their hands in varying motions. The two SeeDs had simultaneously cast a high-level magic in a sudden. "Firaga!"

Subsequent to the SeeDs' chant, their hands started to glow in a dazzling, red luminosity. Two humongous spheres of scorching flame speedily collided with the irked sorceresses. The magic spell exploded with a deafening sound, and the resonance echoed through the hallway. Murky smoke ascended to the ceiling and the already present smell of fire was strengthened. The marble tiled-floor that the enemies stepped on was set in flames. The enchantment engulfed them in hellish flames, and for seconds it blocked the sight between the two sides of battle. And as if time was in favor of Squall, an announcement was heard throughout the whole Garden.

"Attention! I'm afraid to say this, and please don't panic, but there are sorceresses in the Garden! Instructors and S-students accompany the children and B-students to the nearest dormitories! Rank 1-5 SeeDs and M-students gather all Balamb personnel at the library! Rank 6-20 SeeDs and H-students escort the visitors and entertainers to the cafeteria! And Rank 21-A SeeDs, go to the lobby and prepare for a fight!"

After Xu had finished her announcement and before the smoke started to vanish, Quistis, Zell and Squall rushed to their opponents and started to attack. The brown-haired man slashed his way through the smoke and to the sorceresses' leader's direction, but the woman managed to sense his attack and dodge. Flogging noise was heard as the Quistis violently lashed her whip to the enemies. The blonde male rapidly punched the sorceress nearest to him, and even when his sight was obstructed, he knew that he had hit his target for a soft whimper was heard after he had made his assault. The woman was vastly enraged by this that she blindly cast a spell around her.

"Thundaga!" screamed the red-haired sorceress, not knowing where she should direct the crackling bolts of lightning. Because of the attendance of the smoke, instead of hitting Zell the lightning spell hit one of the sorceresses nearby. Another whimper was heard and the smell of burnt clothing mixed in the air.

"Yeah!" Zell remarked. He continued unleashing his rapid punches and kicks on his enemies while the smoke still hasn't cleared.

Once the smoke had lessened after a short matter of time, it was clear that they were overpowered and outnumbered. Zell and Quistis both battled two sorceresses at a time; Millea and Fiona struggled with three; while Squall clashed with the most powerful amongst the sorceresses. What they didn't notice was that two of the sorceresses were missing. They had vanished while the smoke was still at hand.

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At the quad, people were watching 'The Final Fantasy Show' Daine had improvised when the announcement was heeded. The spectators started to panic as their fears were made real. People were shouting, running in many directions, colliding with each other; they wanted to get out. Children started to cry as they didn't understand what was happening. They had no clue.

Numerous people tried to go the hallway by themselves, but they were instantly stopped by the instructors.

"Please, don't go to the lobby unaccompanied!" declared Daine at the crowd that swarmed all over the place. "Please calm down! If you people want to survive, you will kindly follow the instructions on the announcements!"

The older people were tough to instruct, so the instructors lined up the crying children and the B-Students first. One of the sobbing children approached Feryl.

"What's happening? They say we're gonna die? Is that true?" asked the little redhead. His sobs were drowned in the deafening noise made by the adults.

The instructor knelt and looked at the little kid's eyes. "Hey, you're not gonna die, okay? We're doing our best to protect you, and besides, you'll get candies if you follow us bravely and obediently. Understand?"

The little boy nodded. "O-Okay… You'll really give me the candies after this?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?"

Daine held out his hand and crossed his fingers. "Promise. Cross my heart until I die."

After his promise has been made, the uproar grew even leader. The people were pointing to the stage of the quad, and food and other ornaments were being thrown at this direction. A gray-gowned woman had just appeared. She was one of the sorceresses.

"Another one of them! Kill her!" bawled the mob. They didn't know the danger of assaulting a sorceress; all they knew was that she should get out of here.

"Insolent fools…"

Suddenly, another one appeared out of thin air. The newcomer had purple, wavy hair that slid down upon her blood-red gown. She looked at her accomplice and smirked.

"Shall we start searching for Rinoa and Ellone?" said the purple-haired lady.

"If you insist," replied the girl in gray.

The two of them slowly walked down the stairs of the stage. People constantly threw various things at them; hot dogs, stones, tree branches, and even their purses. The sorceresses disregarded these assaults with their luminous, yellow barrier safeguarding them. When a person directly approached them, they just waved their hand with a quick motion and the person was sent flying in the air.

Behind a hotdog stand hid Rinoa with dread in her eyes. The two women who were looking for her were still quite far from her, but she had to leave now or else they would reach her within minutes. As she looked inside the hotdog stand, she saw something and quickly had an idea. There was a mascot costume of a large hot dog; she would wear it and blend with the collection of entertainers.

She hurriedly put on the big piece of wiener clothing. The smell of hot dogs and bad odor was quickly smelled as she was concealed inside the costume.

"This will do," she softly said to herself. Rinoa started walking gradually to the group of entertainers. "Umm… Hello."

While Rinoa had her conversations with the entertainers, Daine, the instructors and the other SeeDs were greatly alarmed by the presence of the sorceresses in the quad. Lana, a Rank A SeeD, stepped forward and issued new commands.

"All Rank 26-A SeeDs, follow me and we're going to fight those sorceresses!"

With the command issued, the few Rank 26-A SeeDs followed her lead and started to brave the crowd towards the direction of the intruders. When they reached their destination, a fight quickly ensued and some of the crowd gathered in a circle around them.

"Kill those sorceresses! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Without losing any more time, Daine and the other instructors prepared to direct the children through the hallways that will lead them to the dormitories. They couldn't afford to make any mistakes, for many lives depended on them.

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The battle continued at the lobby. Millea and Fiona had just knocked out one of the sorceresses with a 'Flare' spell. They were surprised by how that sorceress quickly fainted; she wasn't as powerful as their leader. Although after that, they enraged the sorceresses and they were quickly cornered near a statue of Edea. The enemies positioned around them with mad eyes as they started to chant in unison.

"What now?" Fiona said to the girl beside her as they backed down a little more.

At the same time as they were being cornered, several students who were made unconscious by the initial attack were starting to awaken. Just as the sorceresses were finished reciting the spell, an arrow sped just beside the sorceresses and knocked the head of the Edea statue. It immediately drew their attention and gave the two girls the time to escape.

Millea mouthed the word 'thanks' to the boy who had helped them. The student was very young; he had short, spiky ash hair and he was a bit smaller than Zell. He wielded a long bow and had a quiver of arrows in his back. He had dirt on his face and hair; probably from the arrival of the sorceresses. A young woman who was rubbing her eyes stood beside him. She had short, curly brown hair and her skin was comparable to Rinoa's. The lass started to mutter a spell. Soon after, all the unconscious students and guards at the lobby awakened and joined the battle. Fortunately, not one of them was dead or had serious injuries. This made Millea wonder, but all she could care for was that the tide was starting to turn.

Meanwhile, Squall and the head of the sorceresses battled near the exploded gate. The female continued to cast fire balls at his direction although he luckily avoided all of them. A few of them almost managed to hit the headmaster by an inch, but he managed to evade them by ducking from the magic spell. When the sorceress started to cast an earth spell, the ground started to vibrate as she chanted 'Quake'.

"You think you can defeat me?" said the sorceress with her usual smiling face.

As the ground started to shake, Squall jumped numerous times to dodge the rising platforms. When he knew he couldn't avoid them anymore, he raised his hand and also cast a magic spell. A bright, white ball of light formed in his palms and supernaturally formed feathers above Squall. When the feathers vanished, the man was slowly lifted from the ground and started to float. After the effect of the Quake magic ceased, he got back down to the ground and swiftly cleaved his sword to his opponent's direction.

And then, echoing footsteps were heard at the opening that showed the way to the quad. Lines of little children were being led through the hallway to be evacuated to the dormitories. Instructors and S-Students guided them and didn't let their young eyes see the battlefield. The sorceresses stopped battling for a moment and saw the people being moved through the Garden. Several more SeeDs joined the battle at the entrance hall and impeded any sorceresses from disrupting the evacuation.

"Don't look there, children! Just follow me!" said instructor Daine as he led the pack of the children through the round, main corridors of the Garden.

The youth submissively trailed behind him as well as other instructors that escorted them. They moved in a fast pace and within a short time they were gone. The group of entertainers quickly followed behind them. Mascots, clowns, moogles, chocobos, moombas and other sorts of creatures moved a bit slower than the children, but they nonetheless reached their destination as well. Rinoa was safely inside one of the mascots, and her plan had worked as she got inside the cafeteria safely.

Next was the huge crowd of roaring visitors. Not all of them were there, for several of the people stayed behind and didn't follow orders. They idiotically remained in the quad to watch the fight between the other SeeDs and the two sorceresses. Amongst the bunch that was panicking, two civilians tried to head for the fiery gates. One of the SeeDs tried to halt them, but they were pushed by other people that were hurrying to get to the cafeteria.

One of the sorceresses that were fighting several students noticed the fleeing men, but miraculously, she didn't follow them. She just let them go through the crumbling gates and resumed fighting the students. Several more people went for the gate to try and escape, but the sorceresses didn't seem to care yet again as they were focused on the battle. Soon after, a quarter of the visitors changed their direction and also headed straight for the entrance. All of them successfully fled, while the remaining visitors in the Garden were successfully contained in the cafeteria.

Their only goal left was for the battle to end. Another one of the sorceresses was just defeated by Zell and another one was growing weak. Squall was surprised by the fact that not all of the sorceresses shared equal power; some of them were more powerful, while several possessed less force.

Nearly half an hour had passed, and not one of the two sides had still emerged completely victorious. The two sorceresses in the quad may have beaten all the SeeDs there, but the fight in the entrance hall was still going on. Zell's left hand suffered a first-degree burn; Quistis's newly dyed hair has now been completely ruined; Squall had several cuts on his arms and legs; Millea's clothes was covered completely in dirt; almost all of the fighters suffered from injuries. Some of the injured were quickly brought by the Balamb personnel to the just expanded infirmary, and in next to no time Dr. Kadowaki had to treat an accumulation of patients.

One of the patients that were rushed to the infirmary was a fellow instructor of Quistis. She and another SeeD carried the male teacher in a speedy pace to get the person urgent treatment. The man had a bleeding, broken leg and was hallucinating; probably the effects of a 'Status Ailment' spell.

"Get away from me! You heathen! Get away from me!" screamed the pitiful instructor. He tried to get away from the people that were carrying him, but to no avail, his right leg had no power to support him.

"Don't worry… Dr. Kadowaki will treat you," Quistis said in a gentle voice.

As the three reached the infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki straight away met them at the door.

"Put him down here!"

All of the beds had already been unoccupied, so sleeping bags and other kinds of soft fabric were laid down on the floor. Many of the patients were awake and didn't seem to suffer fatal injuries, although many of them had broken arms or legs.

"We'll have to stop the bleeding!" ordered Dr. Kadowaki to a SeeD medic.

Not wanting to see the procedure, Quistis went outside of the infirmary and leaned at the door. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. The woman posed a question to herself.

"Why did they have to come today?"

She moved towards the battlegrounds and carried on fighting.

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"Please be safe… Please be safe…"

Rinoa had been pacing around the cafeteria for the whole time, worried about her love. She was still in the rank hot dog costume, and her worries made her dismiss the bad smell inside. All she could think of was Squall.

"Squall, where are you?"

The woman tried to sit a couple of times, but after a matter of seconds she quickly became uncomfortable and stood up again. Unable to wait anymore, she tried to sneak out of the cafeteria and walked towards the breach that opened up to the spherical corridor. However, a SeeD quickly spotted her and stopped her on her tracks.

"Miss, it's dangerous outside. You can't leave," briefly said the male SeeD. He accompanied her back to the farthest seat from the opening of the cafeteria. The girl tried to resist, but the man's physical force was stronger than hers. She couldn't do anything, so Heartilly just sat at the chair the man appointed her to. Rinoa couldn't do anything; all she could achieve was to wait in that place uncomfortably.

000000000

"Why don't you give up? You're never going to find both of them here! " Squall finally said to his enemy after both of them had almost lost their energies. The man almost knelt to his knees breathing heavily while the sorceress struggled to stand.

The panting woman administered a very low-pitched scream. "Give us Rinoa and Ellone! _You_ people won't ever understand!"

"What do you mean we don't understand? Sorceress like _you_ know only to destroy the world!" retorted Squall as he regained his battle posture.

"Destroy the _world_?! LOKUSTS! You know nothing! _We are doing this to open the path to salvation_!" reproached the sorceress with a voice resembling a crazy woman's.

"_Your path to salvation? You mean death and destruction! That's your path to salvation!_" yelled the head master. He dashed towards his opponent hoping to deliver the final blow. Nearly out of energy, he didn't notice that the sorceress was muttering something under her breath.

"AEROGA!"

Shortly after the sorceress's fanatical, high-pitched shriek, stretched, elongated blades of brutal wind promptly darted to Leonhart's direction. More than a few of the deadly air blades hit him; it was inevitable to avoid. His chest was painfully scathed, as well as his arms and legs. And then, a strong force of wind drove Squall crashing against the nearby wall hard. He lied on the ground unable to move any longer.

The sorceress shot a fire ball from her hands. The magic collided against the wall, which caused splinters of cement bury the man. She approached him and looked down. She stared at Squall's eyes with the sternest look she had ever shown this evening. "You will never understand."

Squall tried to get back up on his feet, but all of his energy was lost. Pain seared through his chest as he continued to bleed, and he covered the wound with his right arm to stop the blood flow. The man was slowly losing consciousness… Was it his time to sleep? Or was it his time to die? All he knew was that he was defeated by his enemy…

"Rinoa…"

With this one last word, Squall collapsed on the ground as the sorceress walked away from him.

000000000

With seven more sorceresses to go, Millea felt her hope inside her begin to sink. The headmaster was nowhere to be found and more people were sent to the infirmary.

And then, in an unexpected time, the ground started to shake. It wasn't from a spell in the lobby; the vibration came from the outside of the Garden, and a thunderous thud that signaled the landing of an object was heard. The sound was kind of familiar, as she had been in one for at least a couple of times. It was the sound than an airship made every time it landed.

"An airship?"

She scrambled to her feet and ignored the fighting. The red-haired woman wanted to see who had arrived. Help was the only thing she was hoping for right now. Millea quickly passed through the burning entrance and saw the outside of the Garden. Her assumption was right, and an airship had arrived. The hatch slowly opened as people dressed in turquoise green uniforms strode outside of the gigantic, dragon-like vehicle. Symbols were patched in their uniforms: the insignia of Trabia.

"Here! Here!" cried Millea to the Trabian SeeDs as she waved her hands high up in the air.

After all of the Trabians treaded out of the airship, a woman in a vibrant, yellow uniform with brown, fly away hair trailed behind the reinforcement. Her name was Selphie Tilmitt.

"I came as soon as I received Xu's message," said the girl in yellow. She started to head for the atrium, and Millea tracked beside her. "What's happening?"

"Selphie, many are already wounded. Most of the sorceresses are powerful, and they're looking for Rinoa and Ellone," answered the SeeD from Balamb with a terrified tone.

"Since when did this happen?"

"Since midnight."

As they arrived at the combat zone, Tilmitt huffed at the backdrop of the battle.

"You know what to do," ordered Selphie to her fellow SeeDs.

The reinforcements held out their weapons and prepared to fight.

The blue-gowned sorceress, being aware of the Trabians and her company's situation, sealed her eyes shut and concentrated. She then uttered undistinguishable words under her breath. When the other women saw this, they too closed their eyes and meditated. With a blink of an eye, the sorceresses disappeared and retreated from battle.

All that remained was the wake they left behind.

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**A/N: **I made this chapter longer than the last one and I hope you appreciate my hard work. Comments? Reviews? Suggestions? Questions? All will be widely accepted! The next chapter (Chapter 3) is coming soon, which is **Commencement's Wake**!


	4. III: Commencement's Wake

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Final Fantasy series and Square Enix. I do own the storyline and the new characters, such as Millea and Daine. (I bet you wish you did…)

* * *

**Author's Note: **This chapter will be focusing on the characters of the story and their relationships, such as the characters from the original game Final Fantasy VIII and the characters that I invented. Some foreshadowing and references will also be scattered throughout this chapter. There's really not anything more to say, so I hope you read through it and stick to the end! Oh, and there's a shower scene! Yay! (It's not porn, okay?) Also, the thoughts of the characters are in italic except for the quotes at the very beginning of chapters. (Like the one below this)

* * *

**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Act 1 Beginning of Pathways**

**Chapter III - Commencement's Wake**

_An arrival that left a great wake behind: questions unanswered and people hurt both in the inside and outside. Will recovery ever embrace the place that was once wondrous and joyful just the day before? That was just the commencement of something bigger, and the wounds of time are still far from being healed yet._

Rinoa sat idly on a chair beside a bed coated in a white, spongy mattress. She was quietly reading an epic and striking book entitled 'The Pilgrimage of a Summoner' whilst the clock silently ticked. The petite hand just passed the first number as a boisterous hum echoed, and time couldn't be anymore slower. As she flipped through another page, a chilly, howling breeze swirled from the open window of the room. The dreary curtains started to flap as the wind grew more intense. Squall, who was sound asleep on the bed recovering from his injuries for a few hours already, began to shiver as the cold air lowered upon his serene, pale face. Noticing him tremble, the girl got to her feet and hastily secured the window with a gentle clunk. Soon after she situated herself back in the chair, the woman closed the novel she was reading and moved the seat nearer to her love. She was the one who found him unconscious at the aftermath of the battle, and she was worried deeply by what had happened. The lady gently caressed his dormant face and observed his sealed eyes. Rinoa tenderly pressed her warm cheeks against the man's chest as if listening to the beat of his heart.

"Squall… I hope you wake up soon… I miss you."

Tiny beads of tears sauntered down her face as she rested her face on the man. The girl started to sob delicately, as she didn't want to awaken the slumbering man. He had wounds all over his body, and even though they weren't fatal, many were deep and painful. Dr. Kadowaki even said that some of the lesions might leave scars, just like Seifer left behind the mark on his forehead. Rinoa gradually picked up her head and examined the bandages that littered Squall's body. Within a second, she immediately looked away as she couldn't bear to see them. Heartilly wiped away her tears and sniffed briefly. The woman started to read the thick book again. Realizing that the book was filled with tragedies and fading dreams, she once again sealed the book shut and hid it away in the nearest timber drawer. Not wanting to shed tears once more, she walked up to the window and thought of the sorceresses.

Anger and bewilderment built up inside her as the cruel and malevolent women were pictured inside her mind. She wanted to know why they were looking for her and Ellone. Rinoa then contemplated the resemblance between what happened five years ago and now: both of them were crucial to the plan of their enemies. The girl established the thought of Time Compression.

_What if that was their goal they wanted to achieve? Why would they do it? Just to bring destruction and mayhem on the world?_

These questions rang repetitively on Rinoa's mind, and she dared not to answer these inquiries for the girl knew that the answers won't show up very easily in front of her. She sighed and closed her eyes to calm down herself. All she could think of was either Squall or the sorceresses, so it was a choice between sadness and hatred. Merry thoughts couldn't turn up inside her; it just wasn't the right time to be happy about anything.

_Those sorceresses… they kinda spoke like Ultimecia… especially the word lokusts… Huh. Are they allies of her? How can it happen? Ultimecia's from the future… so does this mean that they are too? Or are they the ancestors of Ultimecia? _

"Why are they really here?" she asked herself.

The girl suddenly yawned. Being exhausted for the evening, Rinoa finally turned her gaze away from the blinking stars of the bright night sky and into the small couch inside the quiet hospital bed room. She slowly made her way to the furniture while scratching her watery, tired eyes. As she reached it, her weariness quickly overcame her and within a second, the girl was lying on her back. Even with her exhaustion, she found it hard to sleep with all the thoughts that were present in her head. Minutes went by and as she grew more uncomfortable, she glanced at the ceiling and commenced counting imaginary sheep like she did when she was a little girl. Rinoa pointed her right hand up into the ceiling and traced the animals as if they were moving along a vast field of plains.

"One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten… eleven… twelve… thirteen…"

_Squall… I'll always be here… beside you._

When the ash-haired lady reached the hundreds, she finally dozed off to sleep; her questions evaporating with her exhaustion as she rested for the day ahead.

* * *

Dawn was just marvelously inaugurating as the skies were overwhelmed with blue and orange streaks. Shuffling sounds were already heard in a dim, untidy dormitory room, since the owner was already awake in the middle of dawn preparing for the day ahead. Millea opened the window of her dormitory that was lined up with numerous tiny shrubs and herbs. She quickly smelled the fragrance of the plants as the soothing wind entered her room. Sunlight started to pour inside and as she savored the warm rays of heat, her ears met the sound of music it always looked forward to. The sweet chirping of the birds and the tender rustling of colorful leaves always relaxed her mind and body as they prepared for the beginning of a new day. If only her entire day was like that. 

As she prepared to take a bath, she exhaled noisily whilst Millea searched for her towel.

"It's time to do some cleaning again," muttered the girl with false enthusiasm.

Her and many other residents of Balamb Garden had done some arduous cleaning and repairing since the assault, and she only had two hours of sleep since her duties. Now, after her moment's slumber, was time to do a number of chores for the Garden again. When finally fully prepared, Millea went inside the bathroom to freshen herself. She smelled herself as she lightly took off her clothes. Noticing the odor of dirt, sweat and blood in her body, disgust quickly seized over her senses that she straight away blasted open the shower. Icy water streamed down from the shower head and as she felt the frosty sensation, the SeeD quivered madly and released the faucet of hot water. Satisfied with the temperature, the young woman shampooed her greasy hair while thoughts overflowed the back of her mind.

_Why didn't the sorceresses kill anyone? Were they too weak to kill us? Or maybe they are-? _

Her thoughts stopped flowing as one idea stood above any other notions in her head.

_Nah, they can't be in the good side… Can they? Maybe I'm just thinking too much… Heh, too much… It's always too much… And how many were there again?_

Millea pointed her index finger at the air and started to write numbers in the air as if there was a make-believe writing board in front of her face. As she finished sketching the number ten in the space before her, she curled her forehead and reached for the soap. The SeeD hadn't realized that they had just fought ten sorceresses until now. The heat of the previous battle left no room for much thinking; as she fought, all Renecus could think of was a sentence that recurred in her mind a lot of times.

_I have to survive this or else I would never get back to my family._

As if that was just the case. Millea, who just joined the Garden of Balamb three years ago, couldn't remember most of her past before that. The girl was ascertained out cold at the pier of Fort Balamb, by a fisherman who thought that he had caught a mermaid. Several cuts and abrasions were found in her body, and at first she was at a state of shock. When the young lady at last regained the power of speech, all she committed to memory was the name she possessed. Millea tried so hard to retain information about her family and her precedent life, but to no avail, no memories resurfaced. Without a home or any recollection of her past, she was introduced to headmaster Leonhart and was accepted at the Garden. She showed considerable talent in battle which led her to quickly become a SeeD during her first year.

_It's funny how I'm worrying about these things when I still don't know who I really am…_

The lass stopped the fluent rush of showering water and momentarily dried her body. Finally devoid of falling droplets of water, she slipped into her casual clothes and headed out of her room. Her preparation being finished, she went into the Dormitory Lounge and came across a cluster of students clouding over the computer-run Garden Board. Filled with longer virtual notes that withheld assignments for students, personnel, instructors and SeeDs, the lookers expressed different concerns regarding the chores they were dispensed with.

"Repair the Garden gates with Mr. Baku and several other students at 7:00 A.M… With Mr. Baku?! But he's creepy!" mentioned a student to her fellows.

A girl in her pajamas giggled as she found out her duty. "Hah! I get to go shopping for food supplies with Mr. Sephi Roth and H-students at 1:00 in the afternoon. That would be easy! And besides, Mr. Sephi's cute…"

When the gathering of students thinned a bit, Millea acquired the chance to uncover her tasks for the day. After pressing a few buttons, the job and its descriptions allocated to her popped on a separate window screen. The new writings that appeared were as follows:

**Date: April 11, 2056**

**Time: 4:16 A.M.**

**Name: Millea Renecus**

**Gender: Female**

**Garden: Balamb**

**Status: Rank A SeeD**

**Please meet at the Briefing Room for an urgent SeeD meeting at 0700 hours. No formal attire needed.**

Upon seeing the memorandum, she wasn't as surprised as some of the other students.

"A mission, huh?"

* * *

Exactly ten minutes before seven in the morning, different ranked SeeDs were already congregated outside the Briefing Room of the 3rd floor. Every one of them read the memo and wore informal clothing; many in their normal civilian clothes, some in sporty attire, and a few that just roused up for the day clad in their pajamas. Some of the SeeDs just finished their early daybreak routines, while others seemed relaxed and were leaning against the wall as they pondered over the conference ahead. A number of them were even playing Tetra Master while they waited for the time to pass by. 

"You lose! I get… nine of your cards!" energetically said one of the SeeDs who were playing as he won many of his opponent's cards.

The opponent stomped his foot and grimaced. "Ahh… You got my Superman, Wonderwoman, Ifrit, and Shiva cards! Damn it! All I got from you was your…Geezard card! Damn!"

Not very suddenly, the elevator made its usual 'ding' sound as Zell came out of it in a hurried pace. He looked around him and started to ask questions.

"Am I late? Am I late? Am I _late_?!"

Another 'ding' was heard as the 3rd floor met more of its latest arrivals.

"Not yet Zell," said a voice from behind his back. It was Selphie, accompanied by her fellow Trabian SeeDs. They still haven't departed from Balamb and were included in the meeting. "You should really bring a watch next time."

"It's 6:56," answered a male Trabian SeeD to the left of Selphie. He and the other Trabians weren't wearing casual clothes and were already in their green uniforms. Among them, only Selphie was dressed in unofficial attire being her favorite yellow jumper and a pair of brown, shabby boots.

Minutes after Selphie and her colleagues' entrance, the doors to the Briefing Room were opened by a smiling, brunette SeeD instructor. At this time of the day, she was already wearing her uniform that looked like a hybrid between a SeeD and instructor's official clothing. Her name was Xu Chen, and as she stood at the middle of the doorway, the girl handed out the briefing folders to the attendants.

"_Those_ will be your Mission Files. Read _every_ detail carefully."

When the entire entourage was inside, she closed the ancient yet modern-looking wooden doors. Then, while the instructors and SeeDs settled themselves on the chairs that surrounded the huge, round table at the center of the room, Xu prepared the Briefing Board for the conference. Despite the sheer smoothness and elasticity of the seats, the pack seemed unsettled as they laid out the files and began reading the inscriptions written inside. No one in the room expressed shock or disbelief concerning their tasks; this was their job and danger was always a part of their missions. After seconds' worth of examining in silence, the quietness was broken as the acting commander of the Garden pressed some buttons in the wide, technological board. But a second before Chen commenced the briefing; she noticed some curled foreheads and puzzled looks on her audience.

"Before we begin, you may notice that the headmaster is not here. He is still resting in the infirmary; therefore he will not be able to join us for today. Being currently in command of the Garden, I will be the one to brief you."

The mystified expressions of the people around Xu were lifted as they got their answer.

"_So,_ without further ado, let's proceed with the briefing."

A large screen containing data was suddenly projected on the view screen.

"As you all know, the Garden has just been attacked by a group of sorceresses. The intruders were searching for Rinoa and Ellone. For what reasons, we don't know. But what we do know is that this group of sorceresses poses a threat to the entire world."

"Rinoa and Ellone? What's so important about those two?" questioned one of the youngest SeeDs, her hair disheveled and covered her face; probably because of all the business and chaos lately.

Acknowledging the inquiry, Xu switched the screen to another that contained pictures and profiles of Ellone and Rinoa. The data zoomed a bit, which made it readable to the pack; as soon as the letters were visible, people started to read their profiles to know more about the subjects. Everyone except for Zell, Quistis, and Selphie bothered to set their eyes on the Board; the three of them knew almost everything about Ellone and Rinoa that you would think they are brothers and sisters.

"From the information provided before you, you can see that Rinoa's a sorceress, and Ellone has the ability to send a person back to the past. While Rinoa Heartilly got her magic from sorceress Edea, it is unknown to anyone how Ellone was gifted with such talent," explained Chen as she toggled the current window of the computer-controlled Board to a blank one. "It is obvious that powerful magic spells and the power over time are incredible skills; no wonder the sorceresses need them. But then again, we don't know what the sorceresses need them for. It could be Time Compression, but we can't be sure of that. There may be other reasons." Xu looked around and expected someone to ask the purpose of Time Compression. Sure enough, her assumption came true as a short SeeD (who seemed to be too tiny for the chair) raised her hands that suggested a query.

"Yes?" said Xu, already preparing to answer.

"Can you explain what Time Compression does?" pronounced the woman, which had an unexpectedly deep voice.

Her mind now content with a response, Xu faced the inquirer to give details. "I will try the best I can. To my knowledge, Time Compression is the event where the whole timeline compresses; the past, present, and the future all mixed into one point in time. Time will slowly start to collapse and no one will be able to exist after the Compression."

Then, Quistis extended on Xu's reply.

"Five years ago, a sorceress named Ultimecia tried to achieve this. We don't know why, for I'm sure that she could have been destroyed as well in the process. We stopped her from completely finishing the Compression, although time was starting to blend to each other already. We were thrown into different timelines, but thankfully, all went back to normal immediately after Ultimecia's death."

"So, could it be that they're allies of Ultimecia?" asked Millea almost instantly.

With all the questions shot at her one after the other, the woman in front of everyone tried to come up with an answer to satisfy the mystified crowd once again. Xu dreaded the fact that she was being treated like a super-computer, but tried to keep up nonetheless.

"_It is possible_, considering how Ultimecia got to our time. If she could, then why these sorceresses couldn't?"

Not a sound came from Millea Renecus, so Chen assumed that she was convinced with the answer. When Renecus opened her mouth, which suggested that she had more to say, Xu didn't wait for any more inquiries; she was just as mystified as with the rest of them. The SeeD instructor didn't have all the answers, and tried to avoid another question about Ultimecia and Time Compression.

"We got a close look on some of them, and be aware if you see one of them on your missions," started Xu swiftly, changing the subject.

Several pictures that were taken by the Garden security system of the sorceresses were shown, and the attendants had the chance to examine their appearance.

"The one in the blue is the presumed leader of the sorceresses. According to reports of some of the students and SeeDs, she possessed the most power amongst their group. Even though she was weakened by the headmaster, she lasted for the whole battle and she knocked out many students and SeeDs. This sorceress is indeed a formidable force, and a powerful threat."

Xu moved on to another shot taken of a sorceress.

"While their leader was formidably strong, this woman that you now see on the screen was the first of the three sorceresses that were knocked out in the battle," explained the briefer as she pointed to the picture of a blonde sorceress. She then illustrated the two other sorceresses that collapsed in battle: a black-haired and a brunette sorceress. "So, it is safe to assume that not all of these sorceresses have equal power. Some of them possessed incredible magic, while some did not."

"Unfortunately, we didn't get a hold of the unconscious ones as they were quickly teleported out of battle by this sorceress," declared Xu as she directed her index finger to a gray-gowned sorceress on the screen.

"So, it's like they're sorceresses-in-training?" inquired Selphie while deep in thought. "And this sorceress wearing a gray dress is like their protector or something?"

"You _could_ say that," the briefer told Tilmitt, though not with a very strong and sure voice.

"Then we might use these weaker sorceresses as an advantage," assumed a male SeeD as he rubbed his chin.

Zell, who hasn't had anything to say for a while, hit the table hard with his fists and proceeded to join in on the conversation.

"HELL YEAH!"

Everyone turned to look towards Dincht. His comment wasn't really necessary, and in a second, they pretended that they didn't hear anything. The SeeD then became embarrassed and reddened a bit. To take away some of his embarrassment, Millea pretended to giggle as if she found his comment funny. Zell smiled at her; not knowing that it just was an act.

Returning to serious matters, the girl that stood beside the Board demonstrated more pictures of the subjects and answered the last proper comment made. "That's right, but _if _we could find them. Right now, these sorceresses haven't been sighted anywhere but here in Balamb Garden. After their initial attack, they've disappeared. There was no trace of them, nothing."

"And they might be working on another way to get Rinoa and Ellone as of now," remarked Daine in a deep and stern tone.

Chen nodded. "_That _is true. This is why we've gathered here today; to assign you missions on the subject of discovering the entirety of these sorceresses' plans, and to stop them in every way possible. We can't afford to let the world be in danger again."

A long pause began to play in the room.

"Are there any more questions before we start analyzing each mission?"

The evident stillness in the room didn't cease. Every person in the meeting was deep in their well of thinking; all these discussion about the sorceresses had their minds provoked. When no one seemed to have anything to inquire, suggest, or comment on, she pressed some more buttons and the screen changed once again. This time, the Briefing Board presented the analysis of the various missions and tasks that were handed to each SeeD and instructor.

"_Very well_. As you can see on your Mission Files, each and every one of you is to work on a team," announced Xu as she looked at every one of the listeners. She turned to Selphie and the Trabians. "Selphie and the Trabian SeeDs will be going to Esthar to transport Ellone."

The Trabians bobbed their heads in agreement.

"Zell Dincht, as you know, you will be working with SeeDs Delaure and Neoris, in searching for a woman who just discovered her powers as a sorceress in Rhyllion City. Some trouble was created during the discovery of her powers, and you shall investigate if this woman might have some connection to what's happened in the Garden," declared Xu as she nodded towards Zell and the other two SeeDs' direction.

"Understood," confirmed Neoris and Delaure simultaneously, whilst the tattooed SeeD rubbed his nose for confirmation.

"_Although_, there _is_ one thing that your file didn't say," said Xu a little worried as she met Zell's eyes. "Upon your arrival at Rhyllion, some accomplices of ours will meet you there and assist you."

Delaure examined the mission folder that was sprawled in his desk more closely. "_Who are they?_"

"I'm afraid I cannot say that information at the moment," answered Xu, with a non-committal jerk of her head convoyed with a mysterious grin.

Leaving Zell and his teammates bewildered of who their secret collaborators will be, the SeeD instructor continued to talk.

"Millea Renecus, Daine Feryl, Errol Bluerock, Buffy Winters, and Anakin Firetreader, you will be posted in Balamb Town for a week to scout for any hints of the sorceresses, to investigate about them and their disappearance, and to protect the residents of Balamb from harm."

The five of them simply made gestures that suggested concurrence, and no complaints or queries poured out of the individuals.

"Trepe, being recently reassigned as an instructor, your first opportunity is to lead instructors Potter, Jardine, and Leoryo in teaching students, especially the B-students, more advanced lessons and training concerning the subject of the battlefield. You and the other instructors will make up the schedule for the training lessons."

As Xu paused for a breath of air, while Trepe's eyes widened in a confused state, instructor Leoryo looked up to the announcer of the task with disbelief and hindered her next sentence.

"Why her? She has just been reassigned before the Festival; she didn't have a great track record on being an instructor, and who knows how she got this job back?" retorted the man, who was undoubtedly skeptic about the idea.

Quistis was clearly insulted by the man's remark, and as she narrowed her blue eyes while ascending from her chair, she faced the instructor with a very stern expression on her face.

"I got this job back, didn't I? And besides, I won't make the same mistakes I did back then! I'm not a failure! Who are you to assume that I will fail again?" cried the woman towards Leoryo.

"DAMN TRUE!" cheered Zell to Quistis.

The insulter smirked and ignored Dincht's out-of-place statement. "You see, she's not the right fit for this job. She clearly has no discipline. How could she discipline the students, if she, herself is not?"

Even more enraged and offended, Quistis pounded the table more powerful than Zell did. "Do you have anything _against me_, Darren? _Because if you do, just say it to me here right now._"

"What do you want me to say, _babe?"_

Hearing angry groans from Trepe, Xu situated herself at once to stop them from spurring words at each other.

"_Enough!_ The job will go to someone else other than you two if this won't stop," threatened the girl in her most serious manner.

Darren Leoryo, taking her warning into consideration, quieted down in an instant. However, he persisted on staring and smirking mockingly at his fellow instructor. This action pushed her off the edge, and made Quistis tread to the door almost similar as a little girl whose candy was taken away by a stranger. She robustly opened and closed the door in a portion of a second, and with that, Trepe was gone from the meeting. Selphie left her seat and proceeded to follow Quistis, but before she could leave the room, Xu approached her and spoke softly.

"She hasn't been feeling really good this day," whispered Xu.

"I know," affirmed Tilmitt in a voice more tender than the other girl's. "I'll try to find out why… Just carry on with the briefing. We'll be okay."

"Okay," she muttered back. As Selphie walked over to the door and departed from the chamber as well, Chen deeply sighed and straightened her uniform. She faced her puzzled, entertained and silent audience as if everything was fine. "Let's continue on with the briefing. Now, to finish what I was saying…"

Selphie strolled away from the room as soon as the door closed, marking the restarting of the conference. She was careful not to trip on any piles of cement as she made her way through the dirty and damaged hallway, although on a few occasions she stumbled upon students or personnel that were laboring on their tasks for the day. Nearing Quistis, she was so fixed on the infuriated woman she didn't notice that a broken, sparkling light bulb from the ceiling almost fell directly to her head; Tilmitt was lucky that a student quickly levitated it with a magic spell away from the girl's direction. As she passed the malfunctioning Central Board, Selphie finally caught up with Trepe before she could enter the Training Center.

"Wait up, Quisty," called Selphie to the swearing woman as she almost crashed to a B-student assisting an S-student fix the fountain.

"_What do you want?" _said Quistis irritatingly, and then continued to spew curses from her mouth again. She stopped in her tracks, but remained her back turned from the girl trying to approach her.

"I just want to know what's the problem," claimed Selphie as she reached for her shoulder. The woman resisted to turn around, and kept walking in the Training Center's direction.

"Will you _wait_?" exclaimed Tilmitt, as she got annoyed of Quistis trying to get away from her.

Finally, the woman she was pursuing turned around with an angry yet gloomy expression on her face. She had quite a few droplets of tears flowing down her red cheeks, and her mouth was trembling a little. Quistis almost began to sob, but she immediately stopped the outburst as the girl bit her lips. Trepe wiped her face quickly to hide the tears.

"_You won't understand!" _insisted Quistis as some more tears fell from her misty eyes. She tried to wipe them again.

"What won't I understand? _Please… _tell me," said Selphie as she ushered down her friend to the dirt-covered edge of the lobby fountain. When Quistis was seated, Selphie situated herself beside her and put one arm around the instructor. "Come on… you can trust me… What's wrong?"

Trepe mopped her face once again and shivered. As she opened her mouth to speak, her words crumbled and turned into an angry moan. Quistis then tried again, but only a curse word came out of her. When it at last seemed that Quistis would be able to reply, an interference swung by as a big shard of cement zoomed speedily to their course.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted one of the M-students who witnessed the flying object.

"STOP!" muttered Selphie quickly, and with that word, a twirling, purple magic spell coated the large fragment. The object was halted in mid-air, and when the spell's effect ended, the rock landed to the floor with a loud thud.

A B-student, who stood beside the M-student that notified them of the danger, scratched his head and looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "Sorry about that… I was trying to levitate it to the Waste Receiver…"

"It's alright," said Selphie, who looked at the young boy and smiled. "Just keep practicing that spell, okay?"

After that, the lad walked over to pick up the fairly heavy piece of cement and carried it to the Waste Receiver with great struggle. He dropped the object to the machine and pressed a button; soon enough, the rock was reduced to smaller pieces and was sent down the pipes that led to the Waste Chamber.

Selphie looked back to her companion, still expecting an answer. Just as she turned her head to look at Quistis, the woman was again on her way through the corridor. This time, the instructor didn't head for the Training Center but instead continued her way throughout the round hallway. Tilmitt got up to her feet and decided to go after her once more. But when a sweeping janitor and several students carrying a machine blocked her way, Selphie couldn't do anything but watch the crying, furious woman disappear out of sight.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Phew! This was quite a chapter to write! I really had writer's block writing this chapter, and with moving to a new house quite a disturbance to me, this chapter was quite slow and long to write. But then again, it gave me more time to really think of my story. With that said, I hope you stick through for more of Wounds of Time next chapter! The next chapter will be titled, **"D_ilemmas_, O_utbreaks_, and G_uffypluffs_"**. Sounds interesting, right? Right? Well anyways, comments, suggestions, and questions are all appreciated as usual! Until next time…

**07/15/06: The D.O.G. chapter won't be chapter 4 anymore. Chapter 4 will be "Children of Sleep".**

**07/17/06: I edited one of the paragraphs- the one where Xu assigned one of the missions to Zell and other two SeeDs.**


	5. IV: Children of Sleep

**Disclaimer: **The marvelous Final Fantasy series, the gigantic company Square Enix, Squall and company; all these I do not own, except for the new characters (Daine, Millea, etc.) and the new storyline.

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**Knight's Annotations: **Thanks for the reviewers and readers of the previous chapters, and I hope you continue to read. Sorry if I had put in the previous chapter (Commencement's Wake) that this chapter was going to be the one entitled **"Dilemmas, Outbreaks, and Gluffypuffs"**. Instead, that chapter will be posted after this chapter, Children of Sleep. I really have to tend to this chapter first before the D.O.G. chapter. This chapter will continue on the prologue, and this will have the same atmosphere with it. In this chapter, the introduction of the women in the pods will be fully witnessed. There will be more mysteries set up in this chapter, and a bit of dark romance. **As usual, thoughts of characters will be in italic and separated from the paragraphs.** Finally, this chapter happens **approximately the same time as Chapter 3, and will contain some recap of the Final Fantasy VIII game. **It is a little useful if you had never played Final Fantasy VIII. That's all, so enjoy reading!

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**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Act 1 Beginning of Pathways**

**Chapter IV - Children of Sleep**

_And therefore, the sleeping bodies were awaken from their deep slumber after elongated years that passed by. A body… it doesn't necessarily mean that it has a soul. What if they had been drenched in darkness for too long, that their souls were abridged to nothing? Is it ever possible to resuscitate them back, or just let them be an empty shell?_

Silence befell the isolated, primordial room hidden deep beneath Esthar. The two robed people who had arrived here earlier sat nearby the magical barrier-blocked entrance of the chamber; no matter how much time should pass by, they were going to patiently sit there waiting and waiting. It had been hours since their explosive entrance, and the slumbering women were still deep in their abyss of sleep. The sleepers could have been so used to resting, the brown-haired girl thought, that they might not wake up from their beds at all. Impatience slowly trickled to the anxious mind of the woman that it finally made her pace the room in a fair speed. As the man's companion occupied her self willingly, he remained seated in a quiet and still position. Not the tiniest bit of sound came from him; his eyes were closed and the head of the male clear of any thoughts. He was utterly relaxed, unlike the female who had been greatly uneasy since the opening of the pods. When the lady piercingly kicked the console whose fire was now starting to die down, the guy's leisure was interrupted and forced him to open his eyes.

"What is it?" asked the man softly, as he unhurriedly turned his head to glance at her.

The woman paced some more and thrust other burnt fragments carelessly. Some of the shards flew to one of the pods' direction; it landed on the cold, smooth legs of a blonde sleeper. Nothing happened, and when the body remained motionless, the girl who scrambled across the room bit her lips and narrowed her eyes with as little patience as possible.

She grunted lowly. "_Why aren't they waking up_? We've been here for like what," the girl looked at a copper pendant watch, "_eight hours_?"

His eyes followed her pace across the room, as he said, "Nenera, I understand your impatience. Although, right now, there is nothing you can do to wake them up yourself. They _will _wake up-"

"_Yeah_, _soon, soon, soon_. You've said that to me for I don't know," she counted how many times he said this word (she surprisingly counted this trivial fact too), "_six times?"_

"Remarkable. You should also count how many steps I take in a day," jokingly insisted by the middle aged man, as he smiled to lighten up his companion.

"That's _very_ funny, Varix…" remarked Nenera, who at least didn't force a grin. "You know, you _really_ could help me wake them up."

Varix brushed the dirt that had gotten to his otherwise untidy hair. "What should I do? Hmm… kiss them one by one?" he muttered in a tone very far from serious as it could ever go.

An angry moan came from the unsteady Nenera, and as she came to a halt, annoyed, the girl glared at him as she spoke. _"Will you be serious?_" She stomped her feet as the guy mockingly sneered at her. "If the Ezerians get to the vessel first, then our plans will be ruined! You know we can't afford that!"

Her shouting made him a bit serious. "Relax. I am confident that we will be successful… The vessel will be ours."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that you were a _prophet_," declared Nenera sarcastically. She examined for what seemed to be the hundredth time the slumbering women. When one of them still didn't move an inch, she unwillingly sank back to the side of the man. "And how can you be so confident? The Ezerians has the book that contains the Ritual, which we still don't know how to perform…"

Almost fed up of Nenera's irritating anxiety and pessimism, the man got to his feet and let out an extremely noticeable sigh. "What happened to, 'I can now see our goals being accomplished, and that time will be very soon'?"

By this instance, the woman's face turned very red; one would almost think that a tomato has just been thrown directly at her face. She clomped her feet against the chilly floor once again, as if trying to force the ground to shake.

"_But how much time are we going to waste waiting for these women?" _reproached Nenera in a very low voice that seemed threatening, bewildered and mad.

When it seemed that his companion wouldn't bother to calm, Varix finally got enough and just went back to his tranquil stance. He tried to ignore all the noise Nenera made, whether it was a groan, moan, scream, shriek or whatever sound came from the girl. When the girl's temper reached the thin end of its line, the noises that she made disappeared into silence. The woman instead raised her hand and started to chant a magic spell. She faced the wall adjacent to her and closed her eyes.

"Watera!"

A sphere composed of warm, dark blue water materialized in front of Nenera as the magic spell occurred. The watery enchantment splashed and bubbled magically as it collided against the old yet sturdy foundation. Vibrations seized the chamber at once, but it soon stopped in a series of seconds. The man and woman coughed all together as they inhaled dust, while the still peaceful women were enveloped in tiny specks of dirt that fell from the roof.

"_Nenera! What are you planning to do? Destroy us all!"_ yelled Varix, perplexed by her actions. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed the girl by her forearm, looking straight to her eyes. His calmness was now gone; it was replaced by a fierce expression that Nenera had never seen before. She tried to release herself from the iron grip as Nenera witnessed his reaction to what she did.

"No! I just tried to wake them up!" she explained a bit scared, desperate to escape from the guy's clutch. "That's just it! Stop it… You're hurting me!"

He continued glaring directly at Nenera, who was trying to look and get away from him. After a moment of examining her fright, Varix then transformed back into his earlier self as he loosened his grip of the girl.

"I thought you were very confident… Why are you worried by some _middle level magic spell_?" remarked the woman, who straightened her hair and tried not to meet the other person's eyes.

"I guess I… reacted excessively, as I should put it," made clear by the man. He slowly swept his messy hair (which he seemed to do most of the time), and darted back to his spot by the barrier to contemplate.

_Nenera… Such a scared girl… We'll see how loyal you are to me._

No sound came from Nenera as she tried to ignore her company. A bruise was created by the man's strong grip, and she felt it sear a bit as the blackened spot occupied her forearm. The girl rolled up her ragged sleeves to examine it, and upon seeing the bruise, Nenera used a White Magic spell called 'Cure' to allow the mark to heal. Soft, white light swirled around her, which made the bruise's mark fade a bit. After treating herself, she covered the damage and looked back at the women. To her dismay, they were still sleeping, but she tried to cover her irritation by biting her lips. Nenera desired not to be hurt again by Varix.

_I've never seen him like this… Maybe there's more to him that I don't know. If there is, then I must know more about it. But first things first… These women should be awake by now._

"_Hmph_," she managed to whimper quietly.

Following her tender moan, more dust fell from the ceiling and bleakly crashed upon the eyes of the sleepers. Then suddenly, there it was. A movement was made by one of the slumbering people. Her hand slowly moved, and then in a second, it was dormant once more. Before Nenera's hope of their awakening fade once more, several more tossed and turned inside the pods, as if suggesting that their sleep was nearing to an end. The wide awake girl that stood beside the pods widely smiled; her victory resurfaced. All the impatience, annoyance, and fright she felt before disappeared as her focus on their goal clouded anything else in her mind. She walked over to the first woman to move, and waited silently for her eyes to open.

Varix also noticed their movements, but just sat still and didn't stir from his location.

"I see that they're starting to awaken," muttered the guy.

Nenera didn't reply. She was still shocked from his sudden attack. Even though she didn't show any enthusiasm, inside, Nenera was as anxious as she was before. When no sound came from her, the man approached her and whispered beside the girl's ear.

_What a foolish girl… so easy to manipulate._

"_Come on_, you know you want them to wake up," spoke Varix sweetly behind her. "Maybe our moans can wake them up." He then caressed Nenera's shoulder tenderly and put one arm around her. The woman seemed uncomfortable, but shortly relaxed nonetheless. Varix then reached for her lips aggressively like an eagle swooping for its prey. Nenera tried to avoid it, although at the same time she also wanted it. Soon, they were both locked in a passionate kiss. Both gently moaned for seconds, and when they were just starting to heat up, the man released himself from Nenera as he heard another noise from behind them.

"Their sleep has ended," announced Varix, his breathing racing fast.

Nenera, who still wanted a kiss, didn't seem too excited about the women anymore. By this time, all she wanted was pleasure. The girl tried to kiss him more, but the man was now distracted by the movements. When her mood finally diminished, she positioned beside Varix who know knelt beside the woman he was examining before. Several minutes drained away as they stood before the sleeping figure, and soon enough, what they have been waiting for finally happened. The female inside the pod labeled 'Arithia: 01-X' slowly opened her eyes; her dark green eyes revealed. She unhurriedly sat on her back as you would see a vampire in a horror movie. When her arousal from the pod went to a stop, she glanced around the chamber and saw the two figures that were watching her.

"Where is Adel?" asked the woman very stiffly.

"I see that you don't require the need for introductions… Well, Adel is dead my dear. So, I see that your name is… Arithia," Nenera answered sweetly, as if talking to a baby, while she scanned the title at the bottom of the pod to check if she was right. The words were rusty, but when the girl didn't show any retort about her name, Nenera knew she correctly read the scripture.

The inquirer didn't show any emotions as she stared at the two of them. "Yes, my name is Arithia. How did Adel die?"

"Well, at first she was just imprisoned by a man named Laguna, and then years later, his son killed Adel," explained Nenera.

"Yes, _killed," _stressed Varix. "Adel was killed by a man named _Squall Leonhart_."

Arithia started to show an emotion, and the first that she demonstrated was anger_. "Was he a mere human!"_

"Oh indeed… a mere human," said Nenera.

"_GRR! Just as what Adel said!_ All those stupid humans do is kill the likes of us!" shouted the just awakened woman, her voice booming across the room. "How long has it been since her death!"

"It's been five years… five years since her killing," claimed Varix, who was very sure of his answer.

The outraged woman stepped out of the pod with her long, rigid, black hair trailing behind. Despite the frostiness, Arithia didn't shiver even once while naked. She approached Varix and grabbed him by the front of his clothes; her eyes burning with rage.

"_ARE YOU SURE?"_ interrogated the middle-aged lady. _"TELL ME!"_

Despite Arithia's loud voice, the man remained calm and collected. He pushed the woman's hand away with his own brute force. She tried to grab him again, but he gripped the woman by her wrist with the same strength he had used before with Nenera.

"Yes," said Varix, and he let go of Arithia's thin wrist. "And if you want vengeance, then you will need our help."

"Vengeance?" wondered Arithia as she walked around the room wandering. She glanced at the others who were still sleeping. "Hmm... vengeance… such a lovely thing, was what she told us."

"You see? It's lovely, isn't it? And of course, the others would surely want it too," proclaimed Nenera with a hint of nastiness. "If you want vengeance, then you would be on our side and waste no time."

_These girls sure are hard to satisfy… Hmm… maybe Varix will persuade them with the whole story. Soon, they will be our pets… kneeling by our side._

Arithia stooped before a girl who was still sleeping. Her name was Merine, and the number beside her name was 2. She swept Merine's blonde, inactive hair while touching the girl's serene face as if they were sisters, and as she reached her heart, Arithia sensed the beating.

"They're all still alive… like me. But they're still sleeping," Arithia put in plain words the obvious. "Will they awaken too?"

"Of course," uttered Varix. He continued to examine Arithia and her bit of a childish behavior. It was as if she had just been born, or reborn. He figured that it must have been the effect of her sleep; she had been dreaming for too long. "You awakened, didn't you? If you will wait, then you will see that they are alive and well."

The woman in her twenties started to shiver. "It's… _cold_. Why am I feeling this?"

"It's the temperature… You were kept in those pods inside this low-temperature chamber to maintain your life. You still aged, but you remained alive nonetheless," explained the only male in the room. "It's fascinating… Adel created it for you."

"Come here, what you need is clothes," stated Nenera, while she pulled out a worn-out robe from a container they had brought with them. She dressed the shuddering Arithia. "We wouldn't want you to catch a cold, would we? You still have many things to do."

"Yes… mother said that we sorceresses would rule the world," Arithia informed them, while tightly clutching herself from the frost. "And that is the thing we must do now! And of course, kill _Squall Leonheart_ and this- this _Laguna_."

Varix sneered a little. "That's what she told you to do? Well, your… _mother _was very smart to say that. Well, we can just achieve that, but if you help us with our plans. Together, we would rule the world. Nothing can stop us, not even Squall and his father. But you have to put your vengeance aside first." He walked over to where Merine lied asleep; Arithia was still examining the younger girl. "Look, she's now starting to awaken too."

"Merine!" softly remarked Arithia to the blonde.

She rose up in the same manner Arithia did and glanced around the room robotically. "Arithia… what are we doing here?"

"Apparently, we were sleeping…" Arithia, who now sat beside Merine, looked at the standing figures. "We slumbered since the war… but it is a vague memory.

"A memory… it is a blurred memory," agreed Merine in a slow tone, as she thought of what happened years ago. "The war… is it over?"

"You mean the Sorceress Wars, dear? Of course it is over… long before Adel's death. It was finished twenty-two years ago," told Nenera the both of them, already knowing what reactions will follow behind. "You had been sleeping for a long, long time…"

The blonde stood and almost hit her head on the glass of the pod. _"TWENTY-TWO YEARS! It was over twenty-two years ago? But we slept just when the war started!"_

"The war spanned for six years… Merine," Varix noted, as he ushered her to sit down. "Six years… It was six years of chaos and tragedies."

"_THEN THAT MAKES OUR SLEEP TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS, YOU HUMAN!"_ roared Arithia, who seemed as if a spirit of a ferocious lion had just possessed her.

Merine and Arithia shouted simultaneously, as if trying to wake the others. They were enraged by all the sudden information that just seeped into their minds. The two just stepped back into the world of reality, but it still felt like a dream for the women. Both couldn't believe at what had happened in history, and their expressions aren't enough to show the feelings burning inside of them. After their screams, small fire balls rapidly formed between their palms and shot swiftly into the ceiling. Little explosions swarmed the ancient roof as dust and smoke swirled in the vicinity once more. The outburst didn't hurt the powerful structure; instead, it caused the same tremors Nenera had made before. In an instant, the other sleepers rose out of their beds too. Like Merine and Arithia did, they all ascended in a vampiric way, and examined the room like a lifeless doll. Hearing the two women's rage, they all stepped out of their pods and approached them.

"You see? _That_ worked…" remarked Nenera, suddenly a bit frightened of all the awakened sorceresses around her. In a way, she almost wished that they weren't awake, for the mass around Nenera walked almost similarly in a zombie-like fashion. She positioned herself behind Varix as the bare-naked girls approached them.

"Who are you?" said another pale girl with a black hair.

"Where's mother?" muttered a different blonde.

"How long have we slept?" a short brunette asked.

"But I thought Adel died five years ago?" raised Arithia a question for Varix and Nenera, but also to herself as she situated herself before all the other women. "How could we have slept here for twenty-two years if our mother just died? She could have revived us while we were still sleeping!"

Before Varix could answer, he and his companion were surrounded by the circle of sorceresses. All of them looked straight in their direction, their eyes overflowing fury submerged by emptiness. Arithia and her 'sisters' continued to examine the two of them. When they tried to enter the outside of the loop, the girls quickly impeded them with their dark magic. Powerful black air that twirled ominously imprisoned the robed man and woman in the center of the pack. They wanted answers, or else, who knew what fate awaited Nenera and Varix…

Another lady outside the sinister ring, whose name embedded on the pod she appeared from, was Erellai, lifted her hands in the same level as the blue-haired man's neck. An invisible hand of enchantment began to choke Varix with incredible might as the spell performed itself. Erellai then sweetly grinned and narrowed her eyes towards the figure behind him. She was firmly embracing herself with absolute terror over the strangling and gasped as he coughed spurts of red, thick blood. As she continued to suck the life out of the male, the woman raised her other hand towards the slimmer neck of the female. A maniacal, brief laugh came from Arithia and the others that surrounded the sphere of darkness. One more mystical hand attempted to drain Nenera's life as well, but in a split second, an explosion of energy surged from Varix. The vigor obliterated the hands of death and the circle of magic shoved back Merine and the sorceresses a slight edge. They were shocked, but his action just made them even more irate. Before another question could be spurred, or one more spell executed, he acknowledged all of the queries made beforehand.

"Now, now… only rage cannot deliver you far into your goals. Please, I will answer all your questions, but one at a time," promised Varix very kindly, who spoke as if they didn't just try to kill him. But of course, to be strangled again wasn't an option, but to satisfy them. He glanced at Arithia with a false smile. "Your mother didn't forget about you. She wasn't able to revive you when the war was over because, remember, she was imprisoned by Laguna."

"In a special containment in space, too," noted Nenera, still touching the additional bruises in her body.

"That Laguna imprisoned her in _space!" _said irritatingly by Arithia.

"Space?" asked one named Luvoria, who appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. She looked the youngest out of all of them.

Another uproar of questions augmented once more from the audience they were trying to entertain. In order to calm them down, Nenera advanced towards the magic barrier they had set up earlier in the entrance. She revealed a blue mechanical object from her pocket that appeared to be a controlling device for something, and pushed several tiny buttons. Accompanied by whirring, drilling, and crunching sounds, a floating vehicle that resembled a car with wings made its way through the sands. It crushed the rocks, pushed aside the sands, and blew away the dirt on its way. When it reached its destination, the advanced form of transportation parked beside the spacious, ancient chamber. The small and odd-looking drillers and rock-crushing arms attached at the sides of the machine stopped functioning. And then, the shiny, metal door of the Land Glider connected with the spell-wrapped opening of the room. It looked small from the outside, but if one comes into the inside of the vehicle, you would realize that almost twenty people could fit inside. As the noise disappeared, the numbered sorceresses gathered around the Glider and completely caught their attention.

"What is this?" asked Merine, whilst brushing her hands against the smooth surface of the vehicle.

"It's a Land Glider," said Varix, enlightening the woman of her discovery. "This vehicle was just made this year, and was made to traverse above and under any kinds of desert or land. It can also fly a few feet in the air."

Merine pressed her face along the steel door. "It's… fascinating."

While they examined the vehicle and expressed all their absorption, Nenera went inside the Glider and rummaged through the containers inside. By the time they were finished inspecting their finding, the brunette clad in robes handed the nude, quivering women clothing. All of them couldn't figure out how to dress themselves, and even Arithia who was fully clad already didn't know how to do it. It took them minutes of thinking on how they would solve this difficult puzzle. Varix assumed that it was another effect of their isolation from the world for too long; they had forgotten how some things in life worked, and how they were accomplished. He picked one lady from the group of magicians and showed them the process.

_Such perfection… One couldn't imagine how much suffering they endured inside those pods… Nevertheless, they will serve their purpose when the day comes._

"Let me show you how to do it," explained Varix to the others as he demonstrated an example. Whilst he dressed the woman carefully, Nenera noticed from the state of his eyes that the man was staring at their precious body parts, signifying that he was aroused by the experience. Jealousy sprung inside her as she bothered not to look. When all of the girls were at last clothed from the cold, Nenera strode through the mystical blockade and placed herself into the pilot's seat of the Land Glider. Eager to observe the interior of the vehicle, the women immediately formed a line and followed her into the flying car look-alike. In an instant, they were all seated, feeling the softness and velvetiness of the cotton-made chairs.

"Extraordinary," commented Arithia. And then, as the engine roared to life, a hard strapping suddenly wrapped around everyone in their individual chairs. She brushed her silky skin against the belt. "What is this?"

Nenera looked from behind the pilot's seat. "It's a seat belt." In her mind, one thought clouded firmly above her other reflections.

_How could they be like this? Did Adel brainwash them so much that they're like one year olds? Or did their slumber made fractions of their brain shut down…? What if they're too unintelligent to serve their purpose? Hmm… maybe all they need is a resurgence of their memories…_

Arithia didn't give the impression of contentment from the answer. "What does it do? Would it hurt us… or kill us? Is this a ploy to destroy us!"

Straight past her remark, Nenera veered the Land Glider as it made its way through the heaps of earth. The facility they had come from was miles beneath civilization, and they had to tunnel their way back up to the surface. Although, their course became a bit smoother as some minutes went by. The Glider was now trekking on the fairly large tunnel it had made earlier before their arrival. The driver purposely shook the vehicle to respond to the latest query that was fired.

"See now? It's designed to protect you. So don't go assuming some stuff, bi-"

Varix strongly patted Nenera on the shoulder, advising her to not continue her word. She gave him a stare of disapproval, but didn't say the word nevertheless. As the Glider pilot went back to maneuvering the vehicle in a steady track, he pushed a button that made his seat move from the front row and into the center of the Glider. Varix examined the differing looks of the sorceresses; some were mystified, others livid, while a few painted an empty expression. Many of them quietly watched the progression of the vehicle through the obstacles of land. Some occasionally stood as they saw dead and rotten animals that were buried in the sands, but to their dismay, their seat belts prevented them from entirely leaving their chairs. As the atmosphere grew more silent and peaceful, the man cleared his voice; a sign for seeking attention.

"What is it?" demanded Arithia, who was distracted from her sight-seeing.

"Seeing as you and your-"

"Sisters… they are my sisters," interrupted the woman coldly.

"Alright, if that's what you call each other. Seeing as you and your sisters still don't know our names, I am Varix, and this is Nenera," he said as he pointed to himself and his companion. "Before, you and your… _sisters _asked me and Nenera a lot of questions that we couldn't answer all at once. Well, to clear most of your perplexities about us, about the event of your revival, about the current status of the world- I will try to tell most of the important things that happened in the past years that you were asleep. The vital whereabouts to know, the past, the present, and the future- all of those we will talk about," said Varix straightforwardly, like a president making a speech in front of a mass of people. When no one appeared to file an objection, he prolonged with his speech.

"Let's start with the Sorceress Wars. You all know that your _mother _begun this war," started the man. He was only going for the second sentence of the story when another interruption was constructed.

Merine nodded her head as she answered (even though there was no question), "Yes. Mother said that it was for the good of all creation. She told us that if a sorceress like her would rule the world, then all shall bow down after her and the planet would be in order."

"Yes, yes, we all know how _smart_ she was," sarcastically remarked Varix. "Now, to carry on… Since the Sorceress Wars began, many people began to resist from her ascension. Resistances were formed, and people were maddened, motivated, and frightened. They all shared one goal: to bring down her reign for the sake of the world. And at last, it was the man named Laguna Loire, as I had said earlier, who defeated Adel by springing a trap for her at the Sorceress Memorial. There, she was sealed in a special device where she couldn't use her powers. And then, she was sent to space. Thus, it was the end of the Sorceress Wars."

Not one of the passengers of the Glider said a thing.

"And, because Adel was imprisoned, she wasn't able to resuscitate you from your sleep. There is one thing… why did she put you there in the first place?" inquired Varix, curious to their so-called mother's motives.

The woman named Luvoria curled her forehead as she tried to search for the answer in her head. Then, she became enlightened. "I think I remember… she didn't want us to get hurt in the war. If she was ever gone, it was our task, being sorceresses, to continue her work…"

"That is why we should rule the world as I had said!" commented Arithia boldly.

"But then why did she contain you deep beneath the surface? If we didn't find you, then you and your sisters could have been in those pods… forever," puzzlingly said Varix.

Nenera chimed in on the conversation. "What if the chamber we have just been in weren't really where Adel put them in the first place? Maybe someone raided the place where they were originally put to sleep and buried them underground. That person must have known the danger these girls pose to the world. If you'll ask me, it must have been Laguna too."

"You might be correct," replied Erellai. "Then all the more cause for death to that Laguna!"

"We will have revenge in moment's time," told Arithia her 'sister'. Nenera and Varix were surprised by this remark. Her madness had gone away, and it seemed as though she was now acting more normal. The two assumed that their old memories and their understanding of the ways of life must have been starting to resurge. They were pleased about this; it was like hearing the first words of a toddler.

"We have yet to hear the rest of his story," said Arithia, silencing Erellai. "Continue."

Erellai slouched in her seat. Seeing this, Varix moved the pace of his tale from where he left. He spoke about what happened to the world after. The man told them of how peaceful life carried on, but then was once more threatened by sorceress Edea. Varix informed them of the time when a certain sorceress named Rinoa was under possession, therefore leading to the release of Adel from her imprisonment. He shared the happenings of the latest Lunar Cry, the ominous plans of the sorceress Ultimecia from the future, and of the Time Compression that almost happened. The male told them of almost all the sinister and grand things that have happened the last twenty-two years while they were slumbering. How he knew all this information left these women to wonder, but however, they were appreciative of the long story he had just recited. When the tale had come to an end, wide open eyes were visible in the Glider. Anyone who came across a narrative such as this will be amazed by all the epic happenings and bewildering facts described. Varix paused for a lengthy moment, thinking of a concluding sentence.

"Quite a story, eh?" claimed Nenera, who snapped everybody's minds out of their reflections.

Subsequent to her statement, abrupt warmth gradually crept inside the vehicle. Soon, a faint ray of light descended upon the front mirror of the dirty Glider. The crushing and drilling sounds faded away, and the form of transport finished its traverse through underground. Surface finally showed itself. The scenery changed instantly as the previous view of rocks, dirt, sand and corpses of animals seen through the mirrors were gone. It reverted to the sight of a vast and spacious desert, which was surrounded by enormous and towering mountains, the sun casting its blazing heat as usual. Heads commenced scrutinizing the place whilst the 'daughters' of Adel that slumbered for a long occasion beneath the earth, that were long forgotten by civilization, that were caged in those bed-like pods, that were almost empty of all the aspects of humanity, returned to the world they once knew. At last, the children of sleep were free.

"And that is where the chronicle ends, and where a new saga begins," concluded Varix.

ooooo

**After-chapter Notes: **So, what do you think? Was it very dark? Mysterious? Ominous? Intrigued enough? Please tell me what you think of this chapter and of the whole story so far. Reviews, comments, suggestions, and criticisms will all be equally and widely accepted! Anyways, the next chapter will be the supposed to be Chapter 4, 'Dilemmas, Outbreaks, and Guffypluffs' (or D.O.G., yes, I intended it to be that way)! The acronym hints a bit on which character I will focus on the next chapter… Guess who it is… Anyhow, I think that's all for now. Chapter 5 will be coming soon! That's it, and I'll see you on the next chapter!

**Acknowledgements:**

**Miss-Leonheart: **Thanks! Good luck on your time-themed story as well!

**Deppresionangel: **I'm glad that you thought that! I'm going to put more references on the later chapters as well!

**SelphieFan: **Your advice for me back then helped! I'm not making the story go too fast now… Thanks…


	6. V: Dilemmas, Outbreaks, and Guffypluffs

**Disclaimer: **And again, I still do not own the great Final Fantasy series, the humongous company of Square Enix, and the characters that they had made throughout the course of time. Who knows? Maybe someday I will own the rights to them, which would be cool. (But will be impossible to reach.) However, I still have my new storyline, original locations, Millea, Daine, and my other invented characters to hold on to. So, you heard that from me. I own them.

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**Prefix before the Continuation: **This chapter is the one that was supposed to be Chapter 4! But instead, it is now chapter 5. **Anyways, the story will be focused again on Balamb Garden, and on the main characters of Final Fantasy VIII. This happens immediately after the briefing of Chapter 3.** This will be a more lighthearted chapter compared to the other ones, and will be scattered with references as usual. And, from the acronyms **D.O.G.**, did you guess which character will be the main focus of this chapter? **If you guessed a Malboro, then you're completely wrong… Sorry!** Just read and find out who it is even though it's kind of obvious… With that said, have fun reading and don't forget to leave any comments, questions, suggestions, or criticisms after your hard work of sticking through this chapter! See ya at the end of this page…

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**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Act 1 Beginning of Pathways**

**Chapter V - Dilemmas, Outbreaks, and Gluffypuffs**

_Dilemma: state of things in which obstacles present themselves on every side. Outbreak: a sudden occurrence or manifestation. These two words, if you judge them from their meanings, are ominous, and are frequently used in threatening situations. But, if you mix in the word Guffypluff, then what happens next?_

Several hundred footsteps reverberated along the hallways of Balamb that were being rebuilt. It had just been hours since the conclusion of the dramatic briefing, and the tasks were just beginning to get more tedious. The number of statues of that lined the lobby were just being reconstructed. Broken lights that almost fell from the charred ceilings were just being replaced. Fragments of ice still lay clattered around the atrium. Sound of flowing water was still not heard at the entrance of the Garden, as the fountain was still frozen. Dozens of work were still yet to be finished, and the students and personnel couldn't be more tired. The SeeDs and instructors, preparing for their missions, roamed and inhabited the halls with a great sense of relax and coolness. Whenever a student or personnel noticed a SeeD or instructor just sitting around doing nothing, obvious scowls immediately flew past the person's direction to show envy and shallow hatred. They wanted them to share their pain in their chores. But what these non-SeeDs didn't know was that their tasks were far more uncomplicated than what was set out for the people who had just been briefed the day before. Students weren't going on a mission to recover Ellone. Garden Employees weren't going to stand guard in Balamb Town. They weren't going to search for a new sorceress in Rhyllion. They didn't know that they were luckier.

The cafeteria was met with its usual pack of people. Conversations floated amongst the crowd, which concerned of several things that have happened lately in Balamb Garden, and of course, around the world. Giggles and shrieks were also heard, with the Rothies and Trepies leading the nonchalant laughter. Whenever Sephi or Quistis passed, the uproar of their fans shrouded all noise in the cafeteria. Voices of people ordering food, which formed lines that slowly reduced, also contributed to the blast of sound in the cafeteria. At first glance, one would notice that it is just an ordinary day in Balamb Garden. But if you would inspect closely, one would hear the occasional concerned conversations that scattered around the area.

Amongst the row of people, there situated Dr. Kadowaki, Nida and Daine Feryl waiting in line for the specialty of the day, "Malboro Stew". The three, who were lost in their chat, weren't even aware of the name inscribed in front of the food. Regardless of its big font, it still didn't make an impression. Even the smell had no effect on the group. Little they knew of the kind of horror that waited for them in their bowls. After the cheerful cafeteria lady, Mrs. Rin, who wore her usual pink flowery apron to her work, scooped up some nice and gooey stew for the three. The pack sat on the nearest table that was vacant.

"In my opinion, the Garden should move to another place from here as of now," Kadowaki stated in a voice that showed a bit of a fright. "Next thing _we know_, we might be attacked by sorceresses once more!"

"Well, that is a good point, but we must really wait for the headmaster to make the final decisions when he finishes recovering," countered Nida. "We can't just do all these things while he's not around. And besides, Xu already has made some new precautions for the Garden and even went far onto assigning the SeeDs missions."

"Please… don't be troubled, Nuriko, we will protect the Garden. Some instructors had been assigned to train the students of the Garden for further battle, and there will be more guards recruited from the town," noted Daine in a matter-of-fact voice. "And don't worry; the guards that we will recruit will be professionals."

"They better be, or else the patients I will have to treat will just increase in count! It's fortunate that no one died in the previous battle," tensely claimed Nuriko Kadowaki. "And I'm telling you, deaths will be completely prevented if we just move out of Balamb once more."

"What makes you so sure that we are safe somewhere else?" queried instructor Feryl, who had found a hole in Nuriko's argument. Her face showed little embarrassment. "I assure you, we will strive to make the Garden a safe place for the students and all the residents."

"We just have to wait for Squall to recover," said Nida. "It won't be too long before he wakes up, right?"

Kadowaki wasn't absolutely convinced of their talks of reassurance. "Let's hope." After that, they all commenced eating their meal in silence. The female doctor was the first to sip the specialty, and as she tasted it, her face changed into a hideous, dark green color. "What is this!"

Nida turned his head to read the inscription that read 'Specialty of the Day: Malboro Stew'. When he realized this, he remarked, _"Malboro Stew!_ Now _this_ is the kind of horror that we can't protect you from!"

Not only the adolescents and the adults were in heated discussions. In a table at the far corner of the cafeteria, which was laid with soft drinks, junk foods and other various energy juices, there lied a congregation of the youth of the Garden. All of the children that attended were all underage, the oldest being eight. They weren't students yet, and just lived in Balamb Garden like orphans. Even though they were the youngest in the vicinity, this group produced the least amount of noise in the area. The pack was as quiet as a snake, discussing the most recent news that they have attained.

"Did you hear about it? The sorceresses are looking for the headmaster's girlfriend, Rinoa! And for Ellone too, who the headmaster calls 'sis'!" said a young seven-year old lad. "It's a good thing Squall and the others got to beat them before they found them!"

"Yeah I've heard about that! And they aren't siblings you know!" corrected a bossy lass, who appeared to be the eight-year old kid. The guy gave him a grimace, which she ignored. "Oh, and just to let you know, we're not _supposed_ to just call him _Squall._ It's _'Headmaster Squall'_." Another irritated glower meant for her was fired.

"So… what are we going to do now? If you ask me, I'm going! Do you guys want to go on an avned… andvedture? Yeah… andvedture" asked a five year old, who was the youngest out of the group. He didn't have much clue of the spelling of the word, and also about what was currently going on.

"_Adventure,"_ corrected the bossy one.

"Yeah, that," confirmed the youngest.

"I don't know, I'm kind of frightened…" responded a scared-looking girl, who even though was too young for her age, was quite aware of what was happening around the world. "Wouldn't that be kinda dangerous? We could die, you know…?"

A slightly older and taller boy entered the gathering. Three people stood firmly behind his back, acting as his posse. They seemed to have pleasure being his crew and acted like his bodyguards. However, for bodyguard pretenders, they were too short for their height.

"Hahaha! _Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-cat! Pussy! Pussy! Scaredy-cat! Chicken wuss!_ Adventures are _only_ for brave people like us!" commented aggressively, and offensively by the boy as he towered over the alarmed youthful woman. She immediately burst into tears and strolled into a table far from there. As the girl got to an empty seat, she placed her head flatly against the table to hide her crying from the crowd.

The bossy girl stood in his way with arms folded. She looked directly in his eyes, and pointed her fingers at the male. _"Hey, stop calling her that!_ You know that's not right! People aren't allowed to make fun of each other!"

A loud sneer blurted out of the bully. "What are you going to do, _farthead?_ _Boss me to tears?"_

Fury quickly overcame the interventionist. The girl narrowed her eyes, and prepared to hit him in the face. Cheering shot from the attendants of the congregation. Six and seven year olds were throwing their hands up in the air, just as you would while watching a wrestling or boxing match. When the girl almost slapped the lad, a blonde, spiky-haired SeeD, whose name was Zell, separated the two warring sides and prevented a fight.

"Hey, hey, hey! Quit playing around, kids! No need to fight here! You people should be eating delicious hot dogs instead of fighting, you got that?" exclaimed Dincht, as he placed himself between the girl and the guy. Both gave him confused expressions; they were visibly puzzled about the weird comment Zell made about hot dogs, which was not called for. He then looked at the bully. "And you, don't ever call names toward other kids again, especially the word chicken wuss! That is seriously not allowed in here!" He put great emphasis whilst he said 'chicken wuss'. Zell then approached the lonely girl with raining eyes at the other table.

"Hey… why are you crying?" he asked the teary child whose face was still pressed against the table. "Did that guy over there call you names?" When the lass sobbed even greater and didn't manage an answer, he reinforced his question. "What did he do? Come on… you can tell me! I'll beat his ass for you!"

She tried to manage words between her sobs. Following a sequence of attempts, Zell finally heard broken words. "Y-Yeah… He… He… He c-called me a s-scaredy-cat… a-a puss… pussy… and a ch-chicken wuss-s-s…" The young lady's voice wasn't that clear seeing as the sounds she tried to make were impeded by the table, but Dincht tried his hardest understanding them.

"He called you that, eh? Hmm… we'll do something about it!" remarked Zell enthusiastically while he placed himself across the weeping youngster. Then, the man offered her the drink he had just bought. When the girl refused and didn't look up, he said, "You don't want it? It's the most popular drink the kids these days like… Tonic! And look… It's blue!"

Disgust was temporarily illustrated in the girl's face as she lifted her head from the tear-flooded table. For a brief moment, her sobs were gone. "I've tasted that… and it tastes like medicine. Coke is better!" And then, the droplets precipitated from her reddened eyeballs again.

"No, it isn't!" reproached Zell. But the truth was, he hadn't tasted it himself, or even looked at the label. "This is a different flavor! Look, I'll drink it and show it to you that it tastes yummy!" The SeeD then took a big gulp of the liquid that he thought was soft drink. The beverage poured inside his mouth in an instant. At first, Dincht felt sweetness, but it was quickly gone. Bitterness quickly masked the former taste that the Tonic offered. Realizing that the little lady was right, his mouth exploded whilst he splashed the drink against the table, making it even wetter. He next examined the words that were entrenched around the bottle. "One hundred percent herbal drink… eek!" Spit catapulted from Zell.

His actions made a little grin show itself from the girl's beady face. Her moans lessened a fraction, the girl's features weren't in concealment anymore, and the rain of tears turned into a drizzle. Zell was successful in calming her down.

"You're funny," mentioned the girl as she struggled to wipe away the tiny blobs off of her. "I told you that it tasted like medicine."

"Well, it could have been strawberry flavored medicine," insisted the yellow-haired guy. "So, what's your name?"

"Llumie," adorably said the little lady, who was now completely devoid of her weeping. "Llumie Rowayne."

"Name's Zell Dincht," introduced the SeeD while he held out his hands to shake her miniature palms.

"Can I call you Uncle Zelly?" inquired the kid as she suddenly sneezed boisterously. Snot fell from her nose, and it synthesized with the sea of mixed liquids that inhabited the table in front of her.

"Sure!" stated the male towards Llumie, who was continuously cleaning up her face with a pink handkerchief. His voice was muffled because of the blowing sounds that she made.

After she had finished sweeping off all the watery beads and dirt from herself, Zell said, "So, what was the name of that bully anyways?"

"Aaron."

"Wanna teach him a lesson, Llumie?"

"I don't know…" muttered Llumie softly. The girl didn't like the idea very much. "We could get in trouble."

"Hey, don't worry! If we do get in trouble, then I'll get us out of it!" said Zell energetically.

A mischievous smirk occupied his face as he thought of ideas for a prank. By that remark, Zell's childish side was already overshadowing his serious side. But then, he didn't have much of a serious side, did he? Whilst Dincht helped her get back to her feet, a soft grumble resonated from the stomach of the Seed. Hearing the sheer complaint of his belly, the two of them went for a bite of his most favorite thing in the world: hotdogs.

ooooo

Evening crept accompanied by the smell of even more hotdogs. The library, with its usual shelves of ancient and modern books, and lamps that flickered golden lights making beautiful reflections around the room, was occupied by a few students and SeeDs, save for the strict librarian, Ms. Edina. She was a woman who was in her forty's, but she didn't look like it. The librarian still even gets admirers, which prompted some to pretend reading books just to savor her smooth and beautiful face. Her eyes were escorted with half-moon glasses that bounced the shimmering beams around the chamber. Near one of the several windows of the library, overlooking the scenery of diving sun on the horizon, there sat Zell, Selphie, Rinoa and the little girl the male blonde had just helped earlier in the day, Llumie. The young woman was there with her other youthful friends who wandered around the library. Both the man and the lass were secretly eating scrumptious hotdogs seasoned with ketchup. Fortunately, Ms. Edina didn't notice the disobedience of the library law by Dincht and Rowayne. She was flirting with the janitor, Mr. Leingod.

"Heheheh," giggled the librarian graciously.

"So, what're we going to do, uncle Zelly?" asked the tiny figure who was Llumie. "Are we going to… you know, teach Aaron a lesson?"

"What is she talking about?" inquired Rinoa. She was gazing at the skies with her head held high; probably thinking about Squall. The man, who had been lying on the infirmary, was still sleeping soundly recovering from his injuries for almost a day. This was the first time she had been away from the infirmary since the aftermath of the Festival. "Your new friend seems to have plans…"

"Oh yeah, we're going to prank the guy who made my new friend here, Llumie, cry," explained Zell mischievously, as if he was one of the children. "And I exactly know what to do!"

"Don't you think it's a bit _childish?" _interrogated Rinoa. She looked at Zell with a curled forehead, and then her eyes focused on the night sky once more. The woman was pointing at the stars as if she was imagining something. "Well, not a bit but just _extremely childish."_

"Hey, it's not childish! He won't stop bullying Llumie and her friends if no one teaches him a lesson!" insisted Zell. "Besides, I won't hurt him or something; it's just a harmless prank. And as the leader of the New Disciplinary Committee, it is my job to do this."

"Tee-hee… Zell is a baby! Zell is a baby!" teased Selphie loudly. Funny faces were illustrated across her face as if she was entertaining a baby that won't eat. A 'shhh' immediately shot from the librarian's direction, suggesting immediate silence. "And when was there a New Disciplinary Committee?"

"Since today. Well, there wasn't really a Disciplinary Committee anymore since Raijin, Seifer, and Fuijin left five years ago, so I thought that it was about time to bring it back. Besides, they didn't even do their job correctly when they were still here. So I am going to change things around here," declared Zell, with his pride rapidly rising above his head. "I already have some members recruited."

"Oooh… 'NEW RULE # 1: HOTDOGS MUST BE LOVED AND GIVEN CARE," taunted Selphie as she softly giggled. "That will be the first rule you will declare, Zell!"

Dincht's face reddened a mile. "Grr… You know I'm not obsessed with hotdogs anymore, right?" claimed Zell firmly. However, how would someone believe that when he was eating wieners ten times a day?

"Yeah right… You know Zell, _admitting is the first step," _Rinoa absent-mindedly commented. Her focus shifted away from the glittering moon that shone above the wind-swept, illuminated ocean. "So, what are you going to do about it anyways?"

"Yeah uncle Zelly, what are we going to do?" asked Llumie. She took another big bite of her hotdog. "Are we going to put spiders in his drawers? Or splash him with pig's blood?" Some chunks of food spewed out of her mouth as she talked.

"Hey, where did you get those ideas, little girl?" interrogated Selphie of her unorthodox ideas. Tilmitt then wiped the ketchup off of Llumie's mouth so that Ms. Edina wouldn't suspect anything. If she saw them eating, then their group would be in for an instant and frightening kick-out. The librarian was one of those people that frightened them in the school; well, not the evil, destroyer-of-world kind of fright anyways, but the weird kind of fright at that. "Did Zell teach you those kinds of bad things?"

"Nope. I saw them in movies," replied Rowayne with a wide grin. "So, what do you say, uncle?"

"Hmm… well I have some plans in my mind," stated Zell, his eyes wandering around in the air. He was still pulling out ideas from his bubble of thoughts. "But I'm not sure which the best is." The man straight away dived deep inside his mind.

Heartilly stood from her seat whilst a big yawn came out of her mouth. She stretched her arms outwards and stared outside of the Garden once more. "Well, good luck thinking of ideas. I'm going back to the infirmary."

Selphie looked a bit apprehensive. The cheerful woman didn't like the thought of Rinoa tiring herself too much. She had been by Squall's side for hours already, and the girl wouldn't stay for a while to talk some more. "Hey, you've only been here for a few minutes Rinny."

The girl clad in blue glanced back with a worried and exhausted expression. "I know, but I want to remain by his side until he wakes up. I think he's going to wake up soon."

"Don't tire yourself out too much, okay?" said Selphie, showing a great care for Rinoa's recent actions.

"I won't," reassured Rinoa with a smile. She swept her hair and waved her hand briefly as she continued her walk. The dark-haired woman turned around once more before she reached the opening that led to the gloomy outside of the library. Heartilly nodded, and with that notion, she quietly left the area and vanished from their sight. Zell, who was still contemplating of ideas, didn't notice her leave.

A sigh blew from Selphie. Her vision shifted towards the dark horizon littered with billions of stars as well. The girl pressed her warm face against the cold window. Just the moment after she left, a new worry created itself inside Tilmitt's mind and quickly provoked her thoughts.

_What if one of them was to… die? What would happen to the other one? Would he or she just… lose the will to live? I hope that's not the case… Rinoa and Squall…_

That was not the only concern enclosed inside the girl. She had suddenly remembered Quistis, who she hadn't seen herself since the briefing. Mystified of the instructor's situation, a number of theories formed within her head and provoked Selphie's thoughts.

_Could it be that she had a fight with Seifer? They've only been together for a year… and he had to leave Garden to live in Rhyllion… It could also be about her reinstatement to being an instructor… Maybe she can't handle the pressure or the responsibility? That Darren really did hurt her feelings… I just hope that all these things be fixed soon…_

Her thoughts were at once broken by an announcement in the middle of the evening. In a second, Xu's voice, which sounded tired yet brisk, boomed from corner to corner of the Garden and alerted all students, personnel and SeeDs that were going on about their own businesses.

"**It is 9 o'clock in the evening, and just to remind all of you, tonight is the start of the new curfew. A reminder: the curfew has been changed from 11:30 PM to 9:00 PM. This was done in collaboration with some of the instructors in response to the recent sorceress attack. Now, I know you won't get to do your usual 'night prowling', but this is one of the new precautions we had set for the Garden. So, with this announcement, kindly head to your dormitories and I hope you have a good night's sleep."**

And that was the end of the announcement. Groans erupted from the children lurking around the library whilst they looked for books that contained ghost stories. When they realized that their conquest for adventure has come to an end, they stubbornly treaded to the direction of their friend and asked her to come with them.

"Llumie, let's go to our dormitories now!" said one of the other lasses. She altered her tone to a whisper. _"We brought a little something with us! Let's go!"_

Zell's new friend enthusiastically left her seat in excitement. The little girl gestured her hand and was accompanied by, "Bye uncle Zelly and auntie Selphie!" With that, she tenderly scrambled along with her friends as they headed for the youth's dormitory. Tilmitt glanced and inspected the kids as they departed. After a matter of inspection, she found out the reason behind their sudden enthusiasm. One of Llumie's friends had snuck out a book full of Ghost Stories, which was titled, "A Nightmare on Friday the 13th".

"See ya at the cafeteria tomorrow!" called Zell out to her as he waved his hands.

When they were all completely moved out, only Zell, Selphie, Ms. Edina and Mr. Leingod remained inside the place full of books.

"What are you waiting for? Didn't you hear the announcements!" snapped the librarian. It was obvious that she wanted to be alone with the janitor.

"Yes, ma'am!" answered Zell as he and his companion left the library tiptoeing. He eyed Selphie with curiosity. "Who knows what we might even see here?"

"Probably hanging cherries and nuts!" remarked Selphie and went on to giggle. The next thing they knew was that they were bursting in laughter. They made their way through the circular semi-rebuilt corridors, which was still swarmed by a few disobedient students looking for conquest. Their traverse through the Garden was mostly made up of contemplations whether Ms. Edina and Mr. Leingod would truly 'do' it there. Zell even went far to think of which positions they would possibly carry out. When things reached the highest point of grossness, the Seed dormitory doors greeted the two cackling people. A sight that was Selphie's room stood straight ahead; its door tinted with bright yellow paint.

"Well, here I am," exclaimed Selphie as the male and female halted their tracks. "So, what are you going to do for tomorrow? Have you thought of any 'good' plans yet?"

Zell smirked. "Heh, of course I have plans! Many of them, but I'm only going to do the best one! Be sure to eat at the cafeteria during lunch tomorrow, okay?"

"Tee-hee! Of course, but make sure to not hurt the kid, okay? He's just seven!" reminded Selphie of the lad's age. "What is your plan anyway? Just tell me!"

"I won't tell you yet!" Zell retorted like a young boy. "It's supposed to be a secret, and where's the fun in this if I tell you already? You might tell the other kids!"

"But Zell, just a bit! Puh-lease?" insisted Selphie with a sweet voice. She wanted to know of the plan so that she might have a say in it. "I might make the plan better!"

Dincht widely grinned and didn't say anything. It was as if his plan was the greatest in the world that it might make someone's eyes pop once they knew about it. Pretending to not hear Selphie's persistence, he turned his back from her and began to walk away.

"Good night Selphie! I know you just want to know my plans so you can stop it!" He then whistled a merry tune to block Selphie's voice whilst he strode across the calm halls of the dormitory. "Remember, tomorrow at the cafeteria! It's for the good cause!"

"What a kid," remarked Tilmitt as she slowly opened the door of her room.

ooooo

Sun was blotted by dark clouds the next day. Drizzle jubilantly poured from the heavens and lightning vigorously illuminated from the skies. The dismal ocean waves were constantly moving, sweeping sands off the shore back and forth. Tiny shrubs and towering trees courteously swayed and danced in their place as if a musical was being held outside the Garden. Animals and monsters were seeking refuge from the storm, making their way toward caverns and other nooks and crannies they could find. Caterchipillars rapidly squirmed beneath the trees; bug bites swiftly hid in their hives; fastitochalons instantaneously dived under the sands; many creatures were in a hurry. Amongst them, creatures called guffypluffs, who usually lived in the forest, had always sought shelter in the Garden when there was a storm. This day was no exception. The tiny creatures, with their four furry legs, big ears, miniature round sparkling blue eyes, two long tails, a pair of small feathery wings (which didn't enable them to fly, just float), and spotty appearance, glided tenderly in a long line as they headed for Balamb Garden. High-pitched noises were heard as they reached the inside of the place. The main guard that sat at the entrance, who was sleeping on the job, didn't notice the Guffypluffs.

"Eek!" screeched one of the biggest guffypluffs.

However loud the sound was, it still wasn't enough to wake the guard. The guffypluffs were supposed to be escorted to the Training Center where they always stayed during the storm. They have never seen the other parts of the Garden. Taking this as an opportunity to explore the place, the guffypluffs didn't bother to wake up the sentry anymore and continued on their way. With their curious and playful personality, the creatures occasionally sniffed and touched the various objects that they came across. And then, whilst they arrived at the atrium, the beings separated ways. Some scrambled to the training area, a few to the dormitories, a number to the infirmary, and many to the cafeteria.

The guffypluffs that headed for the cafeteria appeared just in time for lunch. Zell's 'marvelous' plan was just minutes away from being executed. Selphie, Llumie, and her other friends were there, and Rinoa, who surprisingly left the infirmary for the second time around.

"Hmm… just wait," remarked Zell confidently that was accompanied by a loud sneer. "The plan's just moments away from being… Ah! What's this?" Something had crawled onto the blonde from under the table. "GUFFYPLUFFS!"

"Aren't they supposed to be in the Training Center?" wondered Rinoa, as she held onto another guffypluff that sat on her feet. She put the being atop of the table and started to pet it. "They're so cute!"

"I DON'T CARE! GET THEM OFF OF ME!" yelled Zell. A couple of guffypluffs latched on both of his legs. It immediately made him extremely itchy. "I'M ALLERGIC TO THEM!"

"Okay, okay," said Selphie. She smiled and made a face one would make in front of a baby to make them smile. Then, the brunette removed all the guffypluffs that were attached to Zell's trembling body. "There you go. Are you sure you're allergic, or just scared?"

"ALLERGIC!" roared Zell, hating the display of the cute creatures that swarmed all around them. "That's all."

"Allergic _and_ scared, that's what I think," commented Selphie sarcastically. "They're so cute, how could you hate them?"

"Because my whole body would make little hills of bulges if they just touch me for minutes!" heatedly explained Zell, who stood up on his chair. "Why do they have to be here? My plan's going to start by now! Okay, just wait there." The man struggled his way along the guffypluff infested cafeteria and moved toward Aaron who had just appeared from the hallway. Evading the playful animals, he was finally in front of the kid and was going to launch his prank; his _foolproof prank. _"Hey, kid, want some sandwich?"

Aaron, noticing some of the trotbulbs (which can make a person fart so loud in an instant) hanging from between the sandwich, refused his offer. He shook his head and told Zell, "Please, no… I'm going to be a good boy now! I promise!" The boy showed a very frightened look. "Here, you can have my hotdog sandwich and soda instead!" He then ran away with some of his friends.

"Wow, that was fast," said Rinoa, who was amazed at how Zell could have scared the little kid. "How did Zell do that? The kid was scared!"

"Yeah, I know. I think he didn't even prank him yet," articulated Tilmitt, wondering if Zell really managed to discipline Aaron. As Dincht sat back on his chair, she asked, "How did you do it? What did you say?"

"Umm… nothing. I just said, 'Hey, kid, want some sandwich?' And then he ran away! I guess I scared him without even doing anything!" cried out the blonde. "Heh, I guess I'm better at Seifer in disciplining people! Yeah!"

"Way to go, uncle Zelly!" praised Llumie to the blonde, as they did a high five.

Overcome with his self-importance, the male SeeD drank the soda that he had accepted from the boy. He then took a quick bite in a lightning-speed second of the hotdog sandwich that came with the drink. Within seconds, Dincht's face became the same unsightly color as the skin of a malboro. After that, a deafening noise reverberated from Zell's body. It was an earsplitting and rank-smelling fart.

"ARRRGGHH!" screamed the man who had just realized what happened to him.

The bottle was examined by Selphie. The woman then exploded with hilarity as she discovered the real content inside. It was a sticky, dark green liquid with some chunks of tentacles- malboro tentacles. Zell had just drunk Malboro Stew. And then, Rinoa inspected the hotdog sandwich which instantly attracted the wiener-obsessed Zell. The food also had trotbulbs inside it, but unlike Dincht's sandwich, the fart-causing vegetables were smartly hidden inside.

"Tee-hee! Zell! I think you've been…" Selphie didn't bother to finish the word.

"You've been pranked!" noted Heartilly, who followed the explosion of Selphie's mirth. People around the cafeteria soon followed their leads as they noticed the revolting appearance of Zell. "I can't believe you just accepted those from those Aaron kid!"

The play wasn't finished yet. In the midst of the laughter, Aaron and his posse were creeping behind Zell stealthily. He and his other three friends grabbed all the guffypluffs they could carry, and in one swoop of a motion, they flooded Dincht with the creatures he loathed. The beings rapidly latched onto the SeeD, causing him to shriek and struggle in agony. He tried to take them off, but others just kept climbing onto his back. Aaron and the other children had just majestically pranked Zell.

"Uncle Zelly, I'll help you!" uttered Llumie, as she tried her best to get rid of the guffypluffs that fastened onto Zell. However, she couldn't keep her laughter as well, just like the rest of the crowd. "I'm sure… it… it… it… will be hideous!"

"Llumie! Help me!" warned Zell as he yelled and cried out for help. "GET THESE PESTS OFF OF ME!"

Just like Zell had said earlier, petite, red bulging hills showed themselves across Zell's body. They were appearing out of thin air faster than a falling brick, which made the mass of people cry tears of joy even more. Tilmitt, who didn't want to see him suffer anymore, helped him as she departed from her seat and started muttering words of enchantment. Transparent, gray light started to twinkle around her whilst she chanted, "Aero!"

Chilly air zoomed headed for the shrieking man's body. The guffypluffs, who didn't like cold temperature, immediately unlatched from Zell and scampered away from the cafeteria. With this action, he was freed from his agony, yet not from his embarrassment. The male looked around the vicinity in a crazed look. Laughter started to die down as they saw his tremendously angry expression. The audience found it hard to contain their mirth. Even though the man didn't accomplish disciplining Aaron and the other bullies, he did manage to lift the tension around the Garden. Everybody was misguided from their current reflections of the possible dangers that the future might bring; all they could portray in their heads was the picture of a blonde male who seemed as if he was slowly and _noisily _morphing into the smelliest malboro you could ever have encountered. Not able to handle the humiliation anymore, Zell raucously marched out of the cafeteria. Selphie tried running after him, but he made a harsh gesture that made her stay away.

At that moment, Zell Dincht swore revenge… against a kid.

ooooo

**Ramblings after the Chapter:**

Well, now you know that this chapter was about Zell! I had to make it lighthearted, because I don't want the story to be too dark… I want it to be balanced in many aspects: such as action, romance, darkness, adventure, and I will also try humor… Of course, there will also be lots of fantasy aspects, since this is Final Fantasy. As of now, I've just recently decided that this novel (Wounds of Time) will be longer than I had expected. Since this is my sequel to the game, I really want to develop it to the fullest extent, with the number of chapters that I have planned being 50! (And the Prologue and Epilogue is separated, making it a total of 52!) Anyways, I hope it doesn't become too much to handle for me… But, I will try my best to update in a fair speed and finish it to the end! That's a promise. Finally, the next chapter will be Chapter 6: "Sea of Priorities" and it will be focusing on another certain character! (But not Zell again) It's a girl. Guess who she is. While you're guessing, reviews, comments, suggestions, and criticisms are all appreciated! Until we meet again…

**EDIT: **There is another change to the order of the chapters. Instead of Chapter 6 being "Sea of Priorities", it will be "Under the Night Sky". The romance aspect of the story will kick in on that chapter.

**EDIT 2: **Another change has been made. Instead of "Under the Night Sky", the next chapter will be titled "Bittersweet Reunions".

**Knight's Replies to Readers:**

**Depressionangel: **Well, thank you for thinking that it's dark! That's exactly what I am aiming for… as of now. Soon, it will be balanced with romance. Anyways, I haven't really read tons of books yet… I mostly got my inspiration from videogame, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings! Heh…


	7. VI: Bittersweet Reunions

**Disclaimer: **Square Enix, Final Fantasy and any of their characters does not belong to me, Radiant Knight. However, Millea, Daine, and all of the new characters, places and storyline are possessed by me. But, you know, one day I will buy the rights to all of them! On the other hand, I might have to win a lottery first before I can do that…

ooooo

**Chapter Six Preface: **It has been a long time (to me, anyways) since I last updated, and I'm sorry for that. I haven't had some inspiration at the moment, and I was quite addicted to a couple of games for a while. (Kingdom Hearts 2 and God of War) Anyways, I am happy to tell you that this is my new update, and hopefully, the next chapters will come along constantly. Well, as I had promised in the last chapter, romance will be finally brought in Wounds of Time! So, just read along through the whole chapter and tell me what you think at the end.

P.S. Since there wasn't really an official name for the world of Final Fantasy VIII, I have decided to name their planet "**Eterna".**

ooooo

**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Act 1 Beginning of Pathways**

**Chapter VI – Bittersweet Reunions**

_When a person leaves another person, they sometimes leave a gift. Some leave a great present, while others depart with a bad memento. And once they meet again, those gifts are opened and the things inside are discovered. One can hope that the gift inside contains sweet happiness, not bitter hatred._

Serenity illustrated itself in a clear picture within the infirmary. The place lacked movements and noises; it was as if it was frozen in time. As if it was heaven. That was what the lone man felt as he slowly left his subconscious. For a moment, he thought that he had died from the previous battle. Everything was white, peaceful, and still. And then, he realized that he wasn't resting for eternal yet. He was still attached to the very face of Eterna, his beloved world; all the light and darkness within the planet he could feel. To fully confirm that he was still alive, he jerked his head in different directions as he tried to stir his arm that was without bandages. His attempt was escorted with success, but also with pain. Awake he may be, the damage done to Squall was still embedded within him.

"Rinoa," was the first word he uttered. Leonheart searched the room for any sign of her. When his eyes didn't see a single strand of her jet, ash hair, nor her light, beautiful face, worry infected his thoughts that were just starting to pour in. He swept his vision around the room for another time. "Rinoa…"

Even Dr. Kadowaki was absent as he came to his senses, which was unusual for she always stayed beside her desk drinking coffee at this time of the night. Unaware of the events that had happened while he was asleep; the headmaster did not know that she had gone off to aid Zell with his growing "bulges". Setting this thought aside, he contemplated of the battle that piloted him to this condition.

_The sorceresses… were they defeated? Or did they escape? What happened to Garden? Is everybody safe? Is Rinoa safe?_

No voice answered his questions. Realizing that he would not get his answers by lying in this bed, he lifted his body from his resting place and set his bare foot against the cold, misty floor. Squall definitely shook as a response to the chilly foothold. He then practiced walking whilst he disregarded his shivers. It took him a while to steady himself, but after some minutes of perseverance, he was once more ready to tread down the path that was laid down before him. The man used the walls as a helping hand to get himself to the nearest cabinet. Lucky for him, his favorite black clothes were there, waiting for him to change from his patient clothes.

Squall thought that dressing would be easy enough for him in his condition. Even though it wasn't as hard as walking, it still took him a couple of minutes to dress himself. What made this process difficult were the fact that his hands trembled and his hurting arms. Every time he raised them, he felt as though his blood started to boil making it seem like his arms were burning. He ignored the aching, and when finally properly and fully attired, he resumed his steps toward the only door of the chamber.

He was hoping that everything was just alright.

ooooo

A sight that was nothing transpired before Rinoa's eyes as she saw the empty bed where Squall once rested. She had been gone from the infirmary for a few hours helping the gluffypuffs set up their own habitat at the Training Center. And, for the millionth time, she felt worry for the man she loved. Inside her, two thoughts fought against each other: "He was transferred to the hospital" and "Squall was just fine". She very much preferred the latter, but she couldn't stop contemplating that they were both a possibility. The fact that Dr. Kadowaki wasn't even there also helped prove that the first reflection might just be true. Hoping for the better, she left the vacant room and started to wonder about the place where he could have gone off.

Shadows swarmed all over the place as the moment veered towards midnight. Owls gloomily hooted accompanied by their enormous, round eyes that floated amongst the Garden. Calm wind tenderly moved the threads of Rinoa's hair that shone through the moonlight. It was an evening devoid of loud noises and actions, as if the place had morphed into a cemetery. The woman continued her way past the beheaded statues with her head fully occupied.

_Squall, where are you? Where are you? I hope you are alive… please be alive… please be alive… What would be the point of the past five years if you will just leave me here?_

The pace of Heartilly's walking hastened the same speed as her thinking fastened. She couldn't afford to lose him, just like he lost her mother. Rinoa wanted to spend the rest of her life in the arms of her lover. Five years wasn't just enough. She spent her five childhood years with her mother, and was that enough? The female thought not. Her mother died too early, too early for them too share many beautiful experiences that they could have had if only she lived. She couldn't do anything back then, for she was a mere kid who didn't understand many of the things she understood now. At this moment, she _can and will _do anything. If it would mean to use her sorceress powers, she would. Even if it would drain all her power, she would take the risk. Just to save him.

As she continued her way throughout the deserted corridors of the dormant Garden, she felt that every step she took seemed like a stepping stone in a stairway that led somewhere. Happiness or sadness, she did not know. All that she knew was that she had to run faster and faster to get to her destination. Where it was, she did not know either.

Rinoa didn't realize that she had arrived at the hallway of the SeeD dormitories because of all the thoughts that rapidly gushed from her. With all the terror in her head, she zoomed her way past the narrow area and blasted the door to Squall's dormitory open with a great burst of force. The sorceress full of fright rummaged around the room in an instant, and when he wasn't there either, she almost lost all hope. If he was not there, then where could he be?

_Where are you?_

She sighed as she placed herself in his bed. Rinoa ran her cold hands through the mattress, wanting to find out if she could at least feel his presence. But to her dismay, there was no tingling or burning feeling that surged through her body. Instead, what she got was a bunch of earsplitting noises that came from a place in the Garden. The reverberations belonged to the refugees from the storm, the gluffypluffs, which resided in the Training Center. Without any reason, she thought that the creatures might have needed assistance. However, she didn't think that it might have been the intuition she was waiting for.

Using the walking velocity she had been getting so used to, she came at the Training Center even swifter than her traverse to the dormitory. The gluffypluffs were just there in their dry and leafy habitat, in their usual state of playfulness. There was no ruckus. She just came there because something drew her towards that place; because her instinct pulled her in.

And then, somewhere in the Training Center, a door snapped closed. The brief sound was heard by Rinoa. This signaled something.

_The secret place…_

Wanting to open the door, yet not wanting to open it at the same time, Rinoa headed for the entrance of the secret place to find out if he was really there. She placed her hand on the rusty doorknob, and as she unhurriedly turned it…

She was hoping that everything was just alright.

ooooo

To the tune of the hooting owls, and the gentle rustling of the leaves, a door was opened that heralded the reunion of two lovebirds. Rinoa Heartilly and Squall Leonheart have found what they have been looking for. All the worry, questions, and doubts in their mind disappeared in one, short glance. They were overcome with joy, and as eager as they were to feel each other once more, they were frozen in their tracks. Smiles quickly spread across both of their faces.

"Rinoa."

"Squall."

Immediately upon hearing the voice of each other, their arms collided in a very tender force. It was a tight hug, and even though it brought some pain to Squall, he ignored it for he couldn't be any happier seeing that Rinoa was safe from the sorceresses. When she noticed a soft moan shot by Squall, Rinoa loosened her grip of the man and stared into his glistening eyes. He directly gazed back at her eyes; the moonlight making her face sparkle with brilliance.

"I thought I wasn't going to hear your voice anymore," remarked Rinoa in a very soft but happy voice. "But I had to be strong. I had to be strong so I could stay by your side. I kept hoping and hoping that you would be safe..." She started crying, but she had a wide grin on her face at the same time. Heartilly was overflowing with tears of pure joy. "And now, you're here…"

Leonheart ran his finger across her face to wipe away the falling tears. He abruptly kissed her forehead as he tenderly swept her hair. The man tried to calm her down as he embraced her once again. He said, as he looked into the night sky, "I thought that too. When I was asleep, I dreamt that you were taken by the sorceresses. You were hurt, and they used you… to destroy the world. But then, I kept fighting. I kept fighting for you… for us." Rinoa's sobbing diminished a little.

The female leaned on the man's chest. "It's been a long time, isn't it? Since we've met real danger? Because you wouldn't normally say stuff like these…" She managed to construct a brief laugh that demonstrated fear and amusement.

"Whatever," said Squall; this was his favorite word to say. But during the past five years, he had changed. Back then, this word suggested that he was a person who didn't like to say his feelings aloud. He was a man who kept his distance from everyone. However, he wasn't like that anymore. This word lost its meaning over time as he learned to open up; it became a mere remark like 'oh' or 'I see'.

"But you're right," continued the man. "I'm talking like this because… because I can feel it. You know you can feel it too. Something is coming, or it might even have arrived already. What it is, or who it is, _whatever _it is, I don't know." Squall took a moment to pause for a breath. "But _we will _be ready for it when the time comes."

"This is just the beginning, isn't it?" said Rinoa, her voice returning to normal. "The attack on the Garden… it surely must have been the commencement of something bigger. They were looking for me and Ellone, and I can't help feeling the same feelings I felt back then. Back when Ultimecia needed me and her."

"You can't be sure of that."

"But for what else could they need both of us? All I could think… was Time Compression," stated Rinoa with a tone a little worried. "Somehow, I felt that these sorceresses are trying to achieve what Ultimecia tried to achieve. Compress the past, present and future. Freeze time in its place."

There was a long moment of silence filled with reflections. All their talk of the danger ahead has misguided them from cherishing their time of reunion. Both were leaning against the balcony, staring at the luminosity that was the sky, which was littered with billions of stars that sparkled with brilliance. The ambiance was light and sweet, while the noise was quiet and gentle. The owls have slept for the night, and the wind had stopped howling. It clearly wasn't the perfect time to observe the scenery, but was the right time to observe their relationship.

When the two grew uncomfortable of the peacefulness, Squall started to talk. "Didn't you want that? Didn't you want the present to stay still?"

Rinoa remembered the very words she said back when they were in the Ragnarok. "That wasn't what I meant. What I meant was… us. I want our relationship to stay still… I don't want it to just fade away into nothingness… And as you said, there are no guarantees in the future."

The man reached for her, and as he grabbed her arms, he could clearly see that she was deeply troubled, worried, and most importantly, _unsure_. The woman was unsure of their future. "We still have our promise. As long as it's there, we'll never leave each other."

He then closed in on her and approached her soft, rose red lips. They were immediately locked in a passionate kiss. It lasted for a sweet couple of minutes; at that time, all they could feel was their love for each other. The lovers ignored all the uncertainties that swarmed their minds; all the troubles that plagued their emotions; all the wounds that had pierced through their hearts. They couldn't feel the world, or anything else around them; all they could feel were their lips colliding, and the warmth that they brought to each other.

_I love you… _Those words floated high in their minds. _I love you… _Those words were entrenched within their hearts. _I love you… _Those words kept them from separation. _I love you… _That was what they said to each other through their gleaming eyes.

After the kiss, they proceeded straight towards Rinoa's dormitory for a night filled with love. It was one of those nights they will remember forever.

ooooo

The next morning welcomed the two lovers with bright rays of sunshine. Last night had been their reunion, and it was an evening full of romance and intimacy. It was a time that steered them away from their worries of the future ahead. But, as the dazzling sun rose high and merrily amongst the light blue clouds, it indicated that a new day was waiting for them to stride upon. The two, both bare beneath the blankets, were still sleeping in diplomatic harmony. But a loud knock on the door startled their peaceful sleep and caused them to awake. Rinoa was immediately shocked from the noise, and caused her to gasp as if a bomb just went off. Her man, Squall, hid beneath the covers and placed a large pillow over his head. He didn't like being woken up by something.

"Rise up for the morning, Rinny!" said a voice, extremely cheerful and high. It was Selphie. "Aren't you going with me to town before I leave for my mission?"

"What mission?" Squall was bewildered by what Selphie had said outside the door, for Rinoa didn't talk about any missions on their previous nightfall together. "Did Xu assign any missions while I was gone?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," answered Rinoa as she scratched her eyes. "Well, yeah, Xu did. And she assigned missions to all of the instructors and SeeDs of the Garden. What about it?"

"_Nothing_… it's just that I want to be certain that the situation of the Garden is handled very well. There are many decisions to be made in this time of the crisis, and we have to be careful to pick the right choices," declared Squall, contemplating if Xu did a very good job of handling the situation. Remembering that he had a job to perform as the headmaster of the Garden, he sat on the bed and let out a huge yawn. He was ready to retain his command of the Garden. "I want us to be prepared the next time they attack."

Seeing him worried again, Rinoa remarked, "I thought it was just _nothing, 'General'_?"

"What _'General'_?"

The woman patted him on the back. "That speech sounded like it came from my father… be careful," teased Rinoa in a sing-along tune. "Oohh, Daddy, are you going to lock me up on my room too?" She made a lustful pout.

"Don't call me 'General', and I am not like your father, got that?" blurted the male, a little bit annoyed of her mockery.

"Affirmative, sir," proclaimed Rinoa, and then she went on to burst into laughter. She always liked teasing Squall this way, as it always lightened their moods. "Squall, I think she handled the situation just fine… Come on, don't worry about it. Let's just get up and get ready for the day." And so they did.

Before Selphie could yell any further at the door of Rinoa's dormitory room, a fully clothed Squall finally answered the door and immediately ignited a surprised face in her. She didn't know that he was already gone from his slumber, and upon recognition, he hugged the man in a forceful fashion that it made his heart throb awfully fast.

"Sel-Selphie," exclaimed Squall, the aching traveling through his bandage-wrapped body.

"Oh, sorry," apologized Tilmitt, a bit embarrassed of her actions. "But wait, isn't this Rinoa's- oh." The energy-packed girl began to giggle as she thought of what they could have possibly done last night. Attempting to contain her glee, she said, "Well, I'm glad you're back and okay Squall! Rinoa was so worried about you. She stayed by your side all the time!"

"She's great, isn't she?" was all what Squall could say to her. He was so overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of energy and happiness around him. Nonetheless, he was happy to see that one of his friends was just alright.

"Hey Selphie," greeted Rinoa as she chimed in on the conversation. "So, are you now going to the town?"

"Yeah… My weapon's still there. But you don't have to come with me anymore, since Squall is now awake," insisted Selphie as she eyed Rinoa with a look that a schoolgirl would make as if she heard an exciting gossip. "That way, you two could spend more time together! Tee-hee!"

"No, it's okay. We'll be just fine going with you to Balamb. Am I right, Squall?" inquired Heartilly in a tone that was clearly urging Squall to say yes. The ash-haired female raised her right eyebrow.

"Oh, sure," automatically responded the man as he identified the hint in her voice. "I need to practice my walking anyways."

"That's good, because we're going to walk all the way to the town!" yapped Selphie readily, who obviously wanted their company in the first place.

And then, he hoped that his feet would just be alright.

ooooo

Their trip to Balamb Town was filled with laughter and agony. Squall's legs were still not fine from the injuries, and making love with Rinoa didn't do his condition any good either. The fact that he still haven't talked to Xu about the situation of the Garden made him wish even more that he could have just stayed behind. But he was already with them, and he didn't want to go all the way back to where he came from since the three of them were already at the vicinity of the tall, newly built and polished gates of the town. At least Selphie kept him occupied by telling him stories- stories about the adventures she journeyed through in Trabia of course.

"At one time, we had to go on a mission underwater, and found an ancient train that was submerged within the deep ocean rocks! We found some treasure inside the train, and of course the Trabia Garden architecture blueprints we needed," told Selphie the two of them in a fast and thrilled pace. "But of course, I considered the train to be a treasure itself so now it remains as a valuable piece of wonder in our Garden's museum. Actually, I thought it was prettier than the other treasures… Anyways, now our Trabia Garden moves as well! Isn't that great?"

"Of course it is. Where's the Trabia Garden stationed now?" questioned Rinoa, a bit intrigued about how the Trabia Garden currently looked like.

"What about the train?" Selphie asked, disregarding her previous question. She wanted her opinion on the train they had salvaged from the sea. "What do you think of the train?"

"Of course trains are wonderful too! I'm sure that the one you found was great as well!" Rinoa had no choice but to agree that trains were amazing treasures. "They surely are big, and fast, and… umm, what else… hard and long?" She couldn't think of any more great things to say about trains. Heartilly knew that trains were an immense fascination of Selphie's.

Leonheart, who hasn't been keeping up with their lengthy chat, halted his tracks as he leaned beside the gate, which now towered in front of them. "Wait, what were you talking about? Were you just talking about my-"

Tilmitt's mirth blasted high into the air once more. And then, Rinoa instantaneously declared, "We were talking about _trains_."

"_Oh." _He realized that they weren't discussing what he thought they were talking about. "Well, we're now here. Was this gate built just yesterday?"

"Yep. It was built by Garden members," noted Selphie. "It adds some security to the town, you know. Now people have to consult the guard first before they can just barge inside."

"Uh, but where is the guard?" queried Squall as he searched for the person who was guarding the town. He couldn't see anyone but statues of Ifrit (a Guardian Force that resembled a fiery dog-like demon) and Shiva (another Guardian Force that looked like a beautiful woman that was frozen in ice) that were situated high above the two, brick posts of the gates. "How could the town be safe if the guard's nowhere to be found?"

"It's good to see you, headmaster," hailed a voice that came from the statue of Ifrit. It somewhat shocked Squall as it made him back up a little. He was thinking that it was _real. _"Oh, sorry to surprise you headmaster, but it's me, Instructor Feryl."

"Isn't it clever? Those statues have cameras and speakers in them, just so that the outside of the town can be monitored from the inside of our headquarters in town," explained Selphie in a matter-of-fact tone like she was a teacher talking to a student.

"We now have a headquarters in Balamb?" Squall curled his forehead during this query. "Where is it stationed?" The man had only been asleep for nearly two days, and there were loads of changes already. He wondered how he would react once the rest of the alterations and the whole situation were revealed to him.

The statue of the icy Guardian Force was the one to reply. "Oh, it's not really so much of a headquarters. It's just a place where we stay for a week and monitor things around here. Feryl and I are the first shift, and we're actually at the Dincht's residence." The voice belonged to the beautiful singer, Millea Renecus.

"Wouldn't that prove dangerous to the mother of Zell?" denounced Squall, a tad feeling weird talking to statues.

"She in fact was the one to volunteer, and Zell approved of it," mentioned Selphie, who was brushing dirt off her boots. "Oh, look at this! Can you please open the gates now, Millea?" She looked at the Shiva statue, and it responded with intense, cobalt light that shone from its eyes.

"One moment," sounded the voice of the SeeD, Millea.

Whirring sounds were heard; clunking of chains within the walls resonated; and there were clicking noises that suggested the operation of a device hidden within the gate's walls. The entryway started to vibrate, and the two halves of the entrance slowly slid sideways to open the path to Balamb Town.

"Isn't it cool?" Selphie was no doubt amazed by the new advances in Balamb Town. Nevertheless, she always was the kind of person to be easily amazed by moving things. "Let's go!"

Beyond them lied Balamb Town, which during the five years that passed by, hadn't revolutionized much. The gasoline stations that greeted people upon setting foot still remained unchanged, except for an enormous and multihued bulletin board that now hung above the car rental booth. Houses lined up the brick roads, most small in size and plain in design. Several lamp posts and benches were dispersed throughout the town. Seagulls swarmed all over, occasionally halting their flying to leave their droppings. As it was before, the hotel remained the most elevated building in the town, its many glass windows reflecting the image of the ocean waves. Beside it was the pier, were scores of diverse categories of boats lay anchored. A number were possessed by the fishermen of the town, some to the Garden, a few to the visitors that frequently came from Fisherman's Horizon, and others were passenger ferries that carried people to dissimilar parts of the world.

Also noticeable was the train station, which was the area of the civic that transformed the most. Vendors housed in stands selling various trinkets and items were now positioned along the opening that led to the station, making it a bustling place amongst the quiet atmosphere of Balamb. Tourists, in turn, were attracted to this spot of the village, crowding out the shops and purchasing Balambian souvenirs. New roads and structures were being constructed across the town, such as a casino, fountains, and a park. It was clear that an expansion was in occurrence.

The three headed for the weapons shop, and it was packed with people; villagers, tourists, and Garden residents alike. Selphie quickly approached the woman in the counter, and it was not long before she retrieved her remodeled weapon.

"It's called the 'Radiant Moonlight'!" informed Selphie while she showed off the latest model of nunchakus. Her weapon was bright yellow and dark orange in color. The handles sported a curvy figure, swirling designs and authentic carvings. All of its chains were sparkling gold with spikes that covered it all around. Dangerous would be the first word to pop in your mind once you take a glance at the weapon. "So now that I got my nunchaku back, what do you say we go for some more walking around town?"

Rinoa and Squall couldn't do anything but nod their heads. Before Selphie could lay her hands on the knob of the door, it opened and a familiar stature entered the store. He wore a black cowboy hat, a purple shirt, a long khaki-colored coat, and boots that matched his outfit.

"I-Irvine," stammered Selphie as she stumbled upon the man.

"Yep. It's me, Irvine Kinneas," confirmed the guy with a smile.

But then, it was not a smile that Tilmitt gave back. Her hand loudly landed on his face, which immediately left a red, hand-shaped mark. Irvine stepped back and caused a sword display fall from its holder. A dull thud of metal resonated as it landed on the floor.

"Why are you here!" Selphie yelled, her mood now turned completely angry. "After all you did to me!"

"Hey, hey, calm down Sefie," uttered Irvine. He was frightened by the expression in her face. "I only came here to-" The cowboy-looking person moved back some more until his back faced the store owner.

"To what!"

Their argument so loud and the shopkeeper just beside them, the woman irritatingly complained, "Take it outside. There's lots of room out there to beat up each other."

And so Kinneas and Tilmitt resumed their quarrel outside the weapon shop and into the crowd of people. Squall and Rinoa tried to break them up, but as they caught a glimpse of the furious female's look and when they didn't seem to be aware of them, both stayed back and pretended they were buying from a stand that was titled "Magical Lingeries and Things That Will Please You."

"To apologize," softly muttered Irvine, who couldn't stare straight into the blazing green eyes of Selphie. "I know that what I did was not right, and I should be punished."

"You got that right! You should be fed to stinky mandragoras, and- and then, a big and long train should hit you, and then boulders should be thrown at you, and a malboro stew should be shoved down your face!" ranted Selphie and then screamed. Her shout startled lots of of the people around that it made them act like they didn't know what was happening. Like Squall and Rinoa, all of them instantly acted like they were _truly _buying from a stand near them. "Where's your hooker, huh! Where is she!"

"She isn't here," lowly mumbled Irvine. "And I broke it up with her. She wasn't the right girl for me… It's only been you, Sefie."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"Okay, okay," he said, almost looking like he was pleading for his life. "I only did it because- because I was not thinking straight." He reached for her arms almost trying to kiss her. Selphie instantaneously steered her head away from him and broke free of his clutches. She brushed off her shoulders as if a virus had just gotten into her.

"Well, it's too late! I'm in love with someone!" bellowed the girl. She turned her back from Irvine, not wanting to see his face anymore.

"WH-Who?" blurted out the cowboy, a palpable indication of defeat in his voice. "Who is he?"

"He's a guy who is certainly not a womanizer and dumb-headed like you!" she deafeningly announced, and with one last glance at him, Selphie disappeared into the mass of people and walked away from their squabble. Irvine tried to reach for her, but the woman quickly ran and started to sob.

"Is there really a 'guy'?" whispered Squall as he and Rinoa witnessed the event.

"Can't you see? There's none," answered Rinoa, whispering as well. "She's trying to make him jealous, I know it."

"Ah, one of those girl things," commented Leonheart. "If only Irvine didn't cheat on her with a hooker…"

When Selphie was completely gone from sight, the two moved towards the man who was left alone standing in the middle of the throng. Kinneas appeared to be down, and he seemed as if he was really sorry and regretful of his actions. He had left Tilmitt for a hooker he met last year, and together they went to the city of dreams, Rhyllion. But now that he had returned from his 'conquest', and him saying that she was not the 'right one' for him, it obviously proposed that their affair had ended. Rinoa and Squall weren't sure if he really lamented his actions, or if he was simply looking to get back to Selphie now that he didn't have a relationship with someone anymore.

"Had a good time in Rhyllion, huh?" said Squall, a little bit sarcastic.

"You shouldn't have left her in the first place," Rinoa demanded with a cold tone. "She tried to forget you, you know? What did you see in that… hooker anyways?"

"She was just really great in you know… the bed stuff. And she said she was going to quit her job for me, and being the fool I am, thought that she was going to really quit," explained Irvine. He scratched his head in embarrassment, and in unhappiness. "I guess I met my match when I found her with four guys in bed."

"Four?" Squall let out a short snicker, and then tried to contain it.

"So now you are going back to Selphie because you don't have a girl anymore? Pathetic," stated Rinoa, her eyes narrowed and glaring towards his direction.

"I am _really _sorry," insisted Irvine, and his voice indicated that he really meant it. "I should've been honest with her in the first place and ended it before she found out about us… And I guess I was just physically attracted to Mina… I thought I was in love with her inner side, you know?"

"Oh yeah, as if you're the guy who looks for the 'inside' of a woman!" snapped Rinoa, who knew that he was not the sort of man who observed the inner being of a woman first. "You're an 'outside' man, I know it. See? You're looking at that woman right now!" She pointed towards a female tourist who was wearing a revealing tube top and a miniskirt. And sure enough, Irvine was eyeing her at the corner of his eyeballs.

"No, I was not!" tried to retort Irvine as he redirected his sight towards Squall and Rinoa. "Anyway, I came here to apologize to her. If I could just let her know that I still love her, maybe she will forgive me."

"You better be sorry," accused Heartilly. She was still not persuaded by his words, and just like Selphie, she wanted him punished for breaking her friend's heart. "So, good luck in apologizing to her. I hope she forgives you."

After that, he didn't reply, and just set off alone towards the streets of the town. They didn't follow him, for they wanted the man to think for himself. Rinoa and Squall weren't going to help him because Irvine was the one who got himself in this situation.

"That went well," commented Squall. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Aren't we going to talk to at least one of them?" He was surprised by Rinoa's answer. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course… If we just meddle, I'm not sure if we're just going to make things any better," Rinoa said seriously. "If it gets worse, that's where we'll come."

"Hmm, sure," responded Squall, who weren't focused on the topic of Irvine and Selphie anymore. "So, what do you want to do?" However, as he looked into an alley that led into another part of the town, for a split second he saw a robed man that suddenly hurried off and disappeared as Squall fixed his vision at the figure.

"What is it?" interrogated Rinoa. She shot her eyes towards the pathway Squall was looking at. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's nothing… thought I just saw something."

"Well there's nothing there," she claimed. The girl steered the man's view away from the empty alley and into the vending stands that were overcome by lines of tourists. "But I do have an idea of what we can do."

At once, Magical Lingeries and Things That Will Please You yet again loomed in front of them, waiting for the two lovers to further explore their naughty side.

ooooo

**Chapter Six Postscript:** There you have it… some little bits of romance (well, really _tiny bit)_. Tell me what you think. Any opinions, criticisms, suggestions, or questions are always welcome for me. Anyway, nine more chapters until the Act 1: Beginning of Pathways ender! That's right; there will be huge chapters that will end each act. It's like ending a disc in Final Fantasy VIII. I currently have planned four Acts, each having a range of 10-15 chapters in it. With that aside, the next chapter will be titled "Sea of Priorities", which was supposed to be Chapter 6. It will focus on a female character… Start guessing and see you until the next chapter!

**Knight's Replies to Readers: **Well, it seems that there's no one to reply to this time… Where is everybody? echoes... Oh well.


	8. VII: Sea of Priorities

**Disclaimer:** I, Radiant Knight, unfortunately do not own the Square Enix Company, the great Final Fantasy series, and any of their characters (whether they are cool or not). (But we all wish we do, don't we?) Hands off to my characters (Millea, Daine, Varix etc.) and the storyline I had created that is a sequel to the game.

OXOXOXOXO

**Chapter Seven Preface:** As I sat and read the whole plot of my story one day, I realized that there were "loopholes", so I had to change several details of the story. Many chapters I have planned were changed or deleted, but fortunately, I am finished undergoing the revisions of the chapters ahead. The only revision I am doing right now is for chapter 2, which isn't that big. I am just going to make the battle a lot less grand so that readers wouldn't think that the early chapters were so fast.

Anyways, this chapter will continue to bring in some more mysteries on the table. That's all I have to say this time, for I have some more editing to do! See you at the end of this page…

OXOXOXOXO

**Final Fantasy VIII: Wounds of Time**

**Act 1 Beginning of Pathways**

**Chapter VII - Sea of Priorities**

_In a world filled with disorder and imperfection, there are many concerns to attend to. It might be your finance; your health; your mentality; the world around you; your loved ones. You struggle to attend to all of them at once, but there is always one that falls apart at the seams. Will you sew it back in its place or let it be lost amongst the sea of priorities?_

Selphie descended her eyes upon the mission file that rested in her hands to refresh her memory once again.

**-MISSION FILE-**

**Name: Tilmitt, Selphie**

**Gender: Female**

**Garden: Trabia**

**Status: Ingenium Chief SeeD **

**Division: Ingenium**

**Specialty(s): High Level Para-Magic; Arts of the Nunchaku**

**-Mission Details-**

**Mission Priority: To transport Ellone from Esthar to Balamb A.S.A.P.**

**Mission Team: SeeD Division Ingenium of Trabia Garden**

**Ellone is currently living in the Esthar Presidential Residence in the company of the President. She must be reached before any other sorceress gets a hold of her; failure to find and evacuate Ellone cannot be allowed under any circumstances. The life of the President and other individuals are also high priorities; they should be protected at all costs.**

**In case of a sorceress encounter during the mission, she (or they) must not be killed or allowed to escape, but instead be brought to Estharian or Garden custody for further interrogation.**

**The sorceresses are not the only threats to this mission, but also the newly formed Galbadian resistances against the Peace Treaty in development regarding the future alliance of Galbadia and Esthar. If any member of a resistance interrupts the mission, immediately disarm them and bring the matter to Estharian custody.**

**When Ellone is found, leave Esthar at once and head back to Balamb Garden.**

**-END OF FILE-**

**  
**It had been her third glance at the mission file since she arrived at the Garden from the town. Mission day for the woman finally arrived, and she couldn't be more anxious about it. She was humming a tune whilst she waited for the day to truly begin, and one mantra kept repeating inside her…

_Train, train, take us away… take us far away! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is like a train… Train, train, speed us away… speed us through the day! Gently, gently, gently, gently down the rail…_

This series of words had always helped Tilmitt to calm down. She had always been what everyone thought _'the girl who was more cheerful than a smiley'_, but what they didn't know was that she didn't have an infinite amount of happiness inside her. Sure, Selphie was good at putting on a smiling face, but she didn't mean it every time she beamed. This woman was the kind of person who was good at hiding her concerns.

_There're so many things that have happened lately… Why has Quistis been feeling so down so much lately? I hope Squall wake's up today… I've got to take care of Ellone… I wish Zell didn't take the prank too seriously…_

And there was one name that she tried to forget.

_Irvine…_

More gusts blew against her room. The wind had been always soothing for her, and she liked the feeling that it brought. They reminded her of happiness, which was the one thing she always liked to attain. But just this morning, she had been feeling a synthesis of emotions… combined with an emotion that was something else. That something else was not joy, not sadness, and this feeling was separate from the great amount of apprehensiveness she felt from the duty ahead of her. A feeling aside from the sudden anger she had felt as she met Irvine earlier in the day. But maybe, it _was _about him. _Maybe_… She wasn't sure if it was about Irvine or not.

_I don't really care for Irvine anymore… or maybe… I don't really know… I'm okay now… really… I'm over him… It might just be the mission that's giving me this feeling… or the sorceress attacks… Hmm, I don't really know… _

For almost a year, she was upset about him. Selphie shed tears for him, and was down most of the time. The woman missed him, and even tried to find the man in Rhyllion. But to no avail, she didn't find Irvine. As the months passed by, she realized that she had to forget about him. Tilmitt moved back to Trabia Garden to distant herself from Balamb and the memories of him that it brought to her. Eventually, her sadness over Irvine weakened, and it transformed into anger. Now that he was back, all she could do was reveal her emotions so that he could apologize for what he did. _But what was she really feeling that was 'something else'?_

Then, one word suddenly hit her. _Incomplete… she had been feeling incomplete… _But that incomplete feeling was not about her love life anymore. She was over that phase by now. All the commotion that had happened during the previous days made her forget what she had been secretly searching the previous year: _a loving relative._

Since her fallout with Irvine, she didn't need him anymore. Selphie wanted someone else to be there for her. The girl wanted their love and care, their words and guidance. Unlike Squall, Zell, Quistis, Seifer, and Irvine, who all have found at least a caring relative since their discovery of their old childhood memories in the orphanage, Selphie was left in the dark without complete knowledge of her family. Whether it was her mother, father, uncle, or grandmother, she wanted to know them. She wanted to find them. But all of the priorities that surrounded her barricaded the true voyage that she wanted to travel; everything else had to come first. The woman didn't want to burden anyone by sharing her troubles of wanting more in life. There were enough problems at hand already. And besides, Selphie had to be the life of the party; the girl who will cheer anyone up when they were feeling miserable. However, how would she cheer herself when she was the one who needed it?

Trying to ignore her uncertain emotions inside, she thought of her "Train Mantra" once again and dressed up in her newly washed Trabian uniform. Eleven was nearly touched by the small hand of the chicken-like alarm clock that was mounted in her room while the longer arm rested upon the number twelve. As she became aware of the time, Selphie hurried her preparations and departed from her dormitory. The woman scrambled to the lobby, which was still crowded by a fair amount of people and their chores. Pleasant sceneries were starting to resurface: the waters that surrounded the atrium were finally thawed; most of the statues were already replaced; the lights weren't flashing anymore; repair was in a good progress.

After the usual dodging around the hallways, which once more involved flying debris, falling ladders, and machines being pushed, she finally made her way to the Garden Central Board. Tilmitt arrived to see all of her fellow Trabians, all dressed formally and wore good postures. It was unusual for her to be late, and was embarrassing, for she was the SeeD Leader in their division, Ingenium. Fortunately, most of her team was composed of her Trabian friends.

"What took you so long, Selphie?" remarked a brunette with a long pony-tailed hair. She had a raised eyebrow, but her expression didn't seem too serious. "Did you just daydream of that Zell guy? Ooohh…"

"Uh-uh… No way Velia! I don't like Zell… he's just one of my best friends, that's all!" Selphie replied with a broad smile like she always did. "Well, _pushing that aside and moving onto more serious matters," _Tilmitt said as she eyed her friend who teased her_, "_are we ready to depart for the mission?"

"Oh, it must be about Irvine, right?" suspected Velia, who spoke in a gossip-like voice. "I heard he was back." Velia was eager to hear her answer.

Selphie tried not to frown or be angered at the mention of his name and push the subject aside. "Yes, he's back, and I don't like him anymore." The SeeD Leader after that pretended to check the Central Board to read the notes for the day.

"But you're angry, right?" asked another female SeeD.

Tilmitt's eyes were halted from tracking the words in the Central Board. She wished that people didn't have to be so curious about her situation with Irvine. The girl lingered silent and didn't respond to her question. "Lana, why don't we just go to the Ragnarok and head for Esthar? Our mission waits." The woman then executed a fake smile, but inside her, she wasn't really happy. She was missing a part of her life.

OXOXOXOXO

Not a single word blurted out from Selphie as the Ragnarok made its way throughout the bright and jubilant skies. Thousands of flowery fields and peaceful terrains were the occasional scenery that someone would think it was taken out of a beautiful painting. At one time, there even was a flock of a thousand birds that swirled around the airship, and flying fishes that danced at the sea beneath.

During their not-so-quiet journey, Selphie's team kept inquiring about her relationship with Irvine, but eventually, they gave up when all they could squeeze out of the woman were simple smirks and glances. The SeeD tried her best ignoring the issue and aimed focusing on the mission ahead of them.

When all had become serene in the bridge, Selphie started to talk while thinking that the topic about Irvine must have already fleeted from the minds of her teammates.

"So guys, what do you think about our mission?" Selphie attempted to begin a conversation about another topic.

"Hmm… what mission? The mission to talk about Irvine?" replied Velia with a wide grin.

"Okay, Velia, you're not sounding very professional. I'm serious. This is not the time for gossips! We're nearing the location of our mission, and it's time we had a discussion about it," snapped Tilmitt very impatiently, almost losing all her patience and attempting to get off her seat and start a fight. "You are such a loudmouthed schoolgirl."

"Hey, hey, hey, if you say so," said Velia, who was greatly aware of Selphie's remarks. It was starting to heat up between her and Selphie. "You didn't need to insult me… it's not like you."

"Just- just keep your mouth shut! I don't need to hear the name of that guy anymore! I don't need and care about him. Do you understand that, big-mouthed, rank-smelling Malboro-girl, or are you just plain annoying that you don't understand what I'm saying?" Selphie ranted heatedly and almost abandoned the pilot seat.

"What did you just say? Malboro!? Look who's talking, naïve train-lover!" insulted Velia, her expression changed from worried to angered. The woman was going to approach Selphie, but couldn't for Tilmitt purposely shook the airship that caused her to lose balance.

Selphie madly laughed as she tumbled. "You're lucky that I'm driving this thing, or else…"

"Grr…" As Velia situated herself once more to attack the pilot, the other Trabians held her back to stop the squabbling.

"No matter how we badly want to see a cat fight, there's no real reason to be fighting each other right now. Selphie's in a tough position right now, and we really should give her some space. She shouldn't even have gone to this mission in the first place," insisted a SeeD named Elli in a soft tone, who accompanied Velia to her seat. "Maybe some other time when there's Jell-O."

The outburst between the two women forced the silence to reemerge. They didn't even talk about the mission anymore- everyone just kept quiet upon the realization of Selphie's mood. However, the stillness was broken by yet another disturbance. But this time, it wasn't a voice from her fellowship; it was a piercing blare that resounded from end to end of the Ragnarok. It was followed by the continuous noise of the vehicle's alarm.

"We've been hit by a missile!" declared Elli on the seat where the ship's status was displayed. He was very shocked and alarmed by the sudden occurrence. "Energy shields was decreased by ten percent; ninety percent remaining!"

"Radars show nothing," stated Lana with worry; she was looking thoroughly on the radars that scanned the vicinity. "The vehicle must have a cloaking device!"

"Kain, deploy the Decloaking Flare!" ordered Selphie, not knowing where to fly the vehicle so that she can dodge any upcoming attacks.

"Decloaking Flare deploying," alleged Kain hurriedly. "In three, two, one, Decloaking Flare deployed!"

Just as the Flare was launched, another missile hit the Ragnarok and this time a bigger explosion was caused. Smoke further clouded the screen of the bridge, rendering Selphie helpless with the navigation.

"Energy shields seventy percent remaining!"

"One vehicle on sight; and it's another Ragnarok! Wait, four more vehicles, and they are all around us!"

And then, the screen that was situated in front of Velia suddenly displayed, "Channel Request", as she said, "One of the vehicles is requesting to talk with us, Chief." Velia dared not to look at Selphie's eyes.

"Open a channel," declared Selphie.

As soon as the command, the image of three people popped in front of the Ragnarok screen. The pilot, who absorbed most of the screen, was a short, dark man, and there were two people that stood beside him; on his right was a professional looking woman, who dressed like an Estharian, except that her clothes were worn out; and on his left was a tall, muscular man whose posture would be something a general would show: proud and calm.

"This is SeeD Division Ingenium of Trabia Garden, and I am Chief SeeD of this Division. My name is Selphie Tilmitt," professionally announced by Selphie. "Lower your weapons or we will fire back."

"Huh, for a naïve looking girl, you act like a tough one," remarked the guy who stood like a general. "And don't you think I should introduce myself as well? The name's Rhyjen Aragnim, leader of the F.O.R.C.E."

Selphie searched the back of her mind for the word F.O.R.C.E. She had heard it somewhere…

_F.O.R.C.E… F.O.R.C.E… Where have I heard it? Oh!_

"So you're the leader of the most active resistance in the world, huh?" concluded Selphie as she remembered the source of the word. "Well, _mister_, what brings you here?"

"Oh, just traversing the skies here and there to admire the scenery, Miss Tilmitt," was the strict reply of Aragnim.

"Really… Are you going flower picking too?"

"Ah, the smell of daisies… I miss it. But too bad we're going somewhere else. Now if you would gladly power down your ship, we would peacefully go and leave your ship unharmed."

"Uh-uh! Your eyes are bulging out, and that means your lying," playfully said Selphie. She then put her right hand behind her back to make a gesture towards Velia. Her teammate instantly mouthed _"Got it"_ and proceeded to press several buttons that activated a signal, which was sent to the nearest Esthar Station. But then, a plasma burst suddenly resonated from Rhyjn's ship and interrupted the signal.

At the screen, Rhyjen sported a wide grin yet it demonstrated an expression of bitterness. "I presume that you just contacted Esthar?"

"What makes you say that?" Selphie tried to sound as playful as she was before.

"Your eyes are bulging out."

With that remark of the F.O.R.C.E. leader, the link was severed and the conversation had ended. The five airships that cornered the SeeD's Ragnarok circled around and prepared to charge their multi-barreled lasers.

"Selphie, they're charging Beta Lasers," Elli hurriedly mentioned. "They're going to fire in approximately five seconds!"

"That means evasive maneuvers for me!" Tilmitt instantly pulled the airship's steering wheel to her fullest strength. The Ragnarok of the SeeDs immediately lowered its altitude from the ground, causing many of the enemy's lasers to miss and hit the other Ragnaroks. Only one hit Selphie's airship, and the barrier that wrapped around it was almost destroyed. Meanwhile, no significant damage was created against the foes' vehicles.

"Forty percent!" shouted Elli as he viewed the status screen. "Two more hits of laser and our shields will be down!"

"They're right above us!" claimed Lana in a high voice.

"Fire back!" Selphie ordered. She pulled the wheel once again, which made the airship glide even lower. They were only a few miles above the ground. "Launch five Homing Flash Missiles enough to block their view!"

"Five Homing Flash Missiles in three, two, one, deployed!" A 'krrrrunnkk' sounded from Kain's console as the weapons were launched.

The gigantic tubes of the Ragnarok that carried missiles opened, and in a blink of an eye, five speeding missiles were let out of their prisons and flew towards their targets. Each weapon set out for a different Ragnarok; four struck the nearest airships nearby very easily, rendering them blind at navigation, while the other one continued to pursue its target: the Ragnarok that carried the F.O.R.C.E. leader, Rhyjen. The missile followed its foe as it veered to the left and headed for a mountain. But when the vehicle neared the summit, Invisibility Cloak started to wrap around it and within a second, it was gone from sight and radar. The F.O.R.C.E. leader had escaped.

Leaving the missile without a target, it zoomed towards the mountain's summit and self-destructed. The result was the demonstration of the real power of the rocket. A fiery explosion occurred; earth and green strolled down the mountain summit, creating a massive landslide that smudged the tranquil and graceful painting that the scenery once was.

"Guess they fixed their Cloak," uttered Kain, eyeing the natural disaster that was still in occurrence.

"And the others too," said Lana, as she noticed that all the red dots that signified the other airships were gone from the radar. "They must have fled, seeing as they didn't hit us back."

"Well, one thing's clear: they must have stolen those ships from an Estharian station," assumed Elli, who had fixed his glasses and wiped off the status screen. That had always been his habit when an airship battle ended.

"Hmm… they're still trying to piss off the Estharian government, huh?" said Kain, while he did his own habit: the man was brushing invisible dust off his shoulders. "They did real good this time."

"This will just heat things up even more between Esthar and Galbadia," deduced Velia as she slouched on her seat to relax. She sighed. "They really don't want the Alliance between Esthar and Galbadia to happen."

"Why don't they want that to happen anyways? Nothing's wrong with the two countries having an Alliance," wondered Lana, "unless one of them is hiding something."

Selphie didn't say anything. There were too much questions and thoughts in her mind that she didn't have time to think of Esthar and Galbadia's issues. The SeeD just focused on driving the Ragnarok towards their destination; calm and cool on the outside, but bothered and incomplete on the inside.

OXOXOXOXO

Rain constantly poured as the Ragnarok landed at the Esthar Station One. The weather just changed some minutes ago; now, strong winds swept off the streets in the city accompanied by violent thunder that roared and screamed. Despite its humongous size, the dragon-like transportation seemed like a tiny mice when compared to the grim fangs of the storm that occupied the heavens. It was a grand contrast of the weather earlier in the day.

"Let's go," announced Selphie, who seemed to be smiling again.

Towering structures, floating vehicles and elongated tubes clouded their eyes as they embraced the technological surroundings of Esthar city. Blue and red colors filled the area with brilliance, which made the place even more hi-tech looking. Civilians wearing blue and white robes treaded around the vicinity, some minding their own business while others observing the new arrivals. Perched machines littered around the area, which contained cameras for security purposes. Loads of public plasma screens showed advertisements for various products and television programs of Esthar. Hover Seats, which were special devices that a person could sit on and will automatically glide in mid-air to transport you to your destination, were scattered across the districts of the city. Dazzling lights blinked and swayed here and there. The magnificence of Esthar was displayed in all its glory regardless of the storm that was in event.

"You won't believe it, but this is only my second time in here," Kain remarked. Out of his companions, it was clear that he was the one who was mostly amazed by the appearance of the city. "My first time was last year, but it was only for less than half a day. Too bad our visit today is going to be even shorter."

"Yeah, I want to go shopping," expressed Velia, as she watched an advertisement on the nearest public plasma screen that showed the latest makeup that will _'make your face look like as if you were Britney Spear's thirty-fifth daughter'. _"Wow, I didn't know she had thirty-four children."

Soon after an advertisement of _'Friendly Toilet, the only toilet around with magical hands attached', _a vehicle arrived just beside them and a person stepped outside. He came with bodyguards.

"We're pleased to meet you once again, Ms. Tilmitt, and her fellow SeeDs," announced by a person as the Ingenium Team of SeeDs gathered around the welcoming committee. "My name is Kiros Seagill for those who don't know."

The man that spoke was black-skinned, slender, and average in height. He wore casual, transparent brown clothes, unlike the guards that surrounded him who were clad in white Estharian formal robes.

"Ellone is waiting in her quarters. This way, please," requested Kiros after all the SeeDs had finished their introductions. He pointed them towards the majestic Estharian vehicle; it was very plain in design, but the color was surreal that it created a radiant aura. A second after they were all seated inside, the transport surged to life and glided along the streets in a rapid velocity.

"Tee-hee, you look so casual Kiros! I've never seen you like this!" automatically exclaimed Selphie in a bright tone as she observed the towering structures of Esthar. "Hmm, I smell beer!"

"Oh, is that so?" presumed Kiros, who was a bit embarrassed by all the interrogation he was getting from the girl. He smelled himself for a quick second. "I must have picked up the smell from the bar. Ward didn't tell me." Kiros then used a brief spell that lifted the fragrance of alcohol off his clothes.

"Almost forgot your duties, huh?" guessed Kain as he chimed in on the conversation.

"Hah! So _you_ were drinking," exclaimed Selphie as she made Kiros even more uncomfortable. It was clear that she was trying to keep the subject away from her.

"So, it was nice of you to arrange a very kind Welcoming Committee. They greeted us with flying fireworks," said Kain sarcastically.

"May I ask what this Welcoming Committee is?" Kiros seemed very puzzled by his remark.

"F.O.R.C.E…" That was the simple answer of Lana. "They attacked us. We tried to stop them, but they managed to escape."

"Oh, yes. They've stolen some of the new Ragnarok models… The situation is growing more troublesome as each day passes," said Kiros; his face expressed a disturbance.

"How come?" queried Selphie. However, she already knew the answer to her own question.

"It is because of the various resistances that have recently been growing and appearing more rapidly than the last couple of months," explained Kiros whose voice transformed even more serious than his usual serious tone. "They really do not want the Treaty of Alliance to be successful, and because of that, they have been trying to create hate between Galbadia and Esthar. By stealing those airships, they thought that they could make us think that it was Galbadia who stole those Ragnaroks. But we are not easily fooled." He folded his arms. "Me, and the administration is thinking that we must do a necessary action soon, or else there will be war between the two nations. We have to stop this before it gets too violent."

"Yeah, but why don't they want it to happen?" inquired Lana, who was staring outside the wet and sparkling streets of Esthar. "Isn't it good that there will be finally an Alliance between Esthar and Galbadia?"

The black man brushed up his chin. "It is good, but some people, I think, are threatened by the upcoming Alliance. That is my opinion on why people are trying to sabotage the treaty to come. What about you, Selphie? What's your take on this?"

"Hmm…" sounded Selphie as she tried to look that she was thinking.

"What's wrong, Selphie?" asked Kain, who was sitting beside her.

"Are you uncomfortable, Miss Tilmitt?" said Kiros as he eyed Selphie's frustrated expression.

"Umm… it's nothing… just continue talking…" whispered Selphie while she tried to avoid the curious eyes of her companions. "I'm really… fine… Just, fine…" A weak smile easily made its way onto Selphie's face.

Not entirely convinced, yet also not wanting to disturb her, the occupants inside the vehicle tried to resume their conversation and didn't include Selphie in their discussions. However, it had become awkward as they knew that something was wrong with the girl. The topics ranged from chocolate cakes, then transferred to malboros, and even went to athlete's foot. The discomfited situation lasted until the marvelous Presidential Residence of Esthar emerged ahead of them; gleaming with golden lights and sporting royal structure patterns and designs. It was looking more beautiful than ever, for a recent redesign of the building had been needed for the past week because of a previous assault from the F.O.R.C.E. resistance.

The Estharian car stopped its tracks under the royal parking lot, which was a part of the Residence building. All the bodyguards came out first and opened the door for them; they were treated like noble guests. Heavy rain was clearly heard as they took a step outside of the vehicle. The storm still wasn't over and it was getting more violent by the second.

"So, I think we're here!" shouted Selphie, as she was unusually lively and joyful again. It seemed as if every now and then, her mood will change from happy and hyper, to silent and sad. There was a battle going on in her mind, and a winner was yet to be declared. "Let's go and pick up Ellone! She's waiting!" She led the way, strolling along the parking spaces like Little Red Riding Hood picking up flowers in her journey.

"Seems like she's happy after all," observed Kiros.

"I don't really know," implied Velia while curling her forehead. "She's been changing her mood every half hour."

"Must be a grave menst…" remarked Elli, and then softly laughed, "Maybe she forgot to put "it" on."

"Or pregnant," called out Kain.

"Sshh... She might hear you guys. Quit joking about her," insisted Velia. "Even though she may have called me a malboro, I really think that she's just had a bad day."

The long way through the carpeted corridors of the Residence was treaded by silence. The group had become serious as they neared their target. Alertness had to be inside their heads, in case of a surprise attack by an intruder. They knew that the sorceresses were looking for Ellone, and it was possible that they might suddenly "pop" up inside the Residence. After walking through the long and statue-littered eighth floor, a door loomed at the end of the passage. That very room contained a valuable person: Ellone.

Kiros knocked on the door, then opened it as he announced, "They're here."

A figure of a woman stood up from her bed. White skin and short black hair was present in the girl's appearance, and it surely made her beautiful. Surprisingly, she didn't wear Estharian clothes or one of her ordinary dresses. Ellone was clad in a Trabian SeeD uniform; complete with fake patches and counterfeit badges.

"So, do I look okay?" she asked and turned around, showing off her own uniform.

"Is this necessary Ellone?" was the inquiry of Kiros, who raised one eyebrow as he eyed the excited-looking woman.

"Yes, it is. They could come looking for me and I could disguise as a SeeD! Isn't that right, Chief?" Ellone turned towards Selphie.

Selphie was absent-minded and didn't catch on what she said. When Ellone repeated "Chief", she finally caught on and answered, "Oh, of course! You could dress like us any time you want, Ell!"

"Well then, let's go!" declared Ellone.

XOXOXOXOX

Afterwards, as they were settling back on the airship, Kiros stopped Ellone for a moment and said his goodbye.

"Well, make sure you have a good time there, Ellone," said the man, who sounded like he was a close relative of the woman. "Laguna will worry if you get yourself in danger. The sorceresses are looking for you, do not forget that."

"I won't. And besides, Squall's going to be there. I can be sure that he will protect me when there's danger," she assured him. Ellone proceeded to hug Kiros. "Just say bye for me to Ward. How come he's not even here?"

"Oh, you know, gambling."

"Ahh… Call me when you win anything big, okay?" After that, as Ellone started to ascend the Ragnarok's hatch, a robed man had appeared from behind the airship and ran towards Ellone's direction.

"Hey miss, want one of my products?" He opened his jacket and revealed a shining dagger.

"Hey!" Selphie and Kain held him back, each one latched on to a separate arm. He struggled to fight back, and in the process, he accidentally slashed Selphie's arm with the sharp and golden weapon. The old man managed to get away as he screamed, "I-I didn't mean to!" The bodyguards tried chasing after him, but he disappeared too fast as he turned a corner.

"What a creepy man," noted Lana. She reached for Selphie's arm and chanted, "Cura!" The wound instantly vanished. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," replied Selphie with her voice trembling so much that even a mere 'yeah' wasn't very understandable.

"It wasn't deep, don't worry," promised Lana. She smiled at Tilmitt.

Another question was shot, but this time by Ellone. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes."

"Really…?" It was Kain's query this time.

"Yes."

"Hey Selphie, are you sure you're really okay? Because we understand if you aren't… you know you can tell us about anything," assured Velia, her eyebrows raised and really worrying about her. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not hurt! And yes, I am fine! Yes, I am!"

But the truth was she wasn't. She was tired of thinking. She was tired of pretending to be happy. She didn't really care about other things as of that time; she wanted to sort out the other aspects of her life first. Tilmitt's life has been in disorder once again as Irvine came back, and she couldn't bear thinking about him, her true feelings, her missing parents, her want for love, and her life ahead. "Train, train, take us away…" The woman tried to whisper to herself, but the mantra didn't work anymore.

Selphie started to run away from the station and into the rainy weather. As she reached a deserted alley, she halted her footsteps in the middle of the road and looked up into the ominous skies. Her entire body had become absolutely wet and cold.

"Why did he have to come back? He didn't have to go back! I was doing so well when he wasn't here… Now how am I going to help Quistis when I am miserable myself? I don't even know her problem yet… How am I going to find about my parents when he's here? He still hasn't apologized for what he did! He really should!" Selphie took a deep breath. "And F.O.R.C.E… Why are they doing this? It's just pointless… They're just making more conflict! And what about the sorceresses… they're going to attack Garden! I can't let that happen… They're going to destroy everything that we've worked for! I don't want the Time Compression to happen again! I don't want to… I have to be tough!" She began to drip shimmering beads of tears. But, she didn't sob. Instead, she shook her head and continued shouting. "I have to be tough! I'm the life of the party! I can't let them down! I have to cheer them up! They can't afford to see me like this…"

She fell to the ground and was met by a splash of chilling water. Selphie finally, and completely, broke down. Complete silence went by for a matter of time. And then, a voice was heard; a gentle and reassuring but mystifying voice.

"Oh, kind one… You are connected to us… Do not worry… We feel your pain… We… feel… y-y-y-our p-p-p-pain… We are the Ezz… Ez-z-z-z…"

"Who are you?" weakly moaned Selphie as she looked around her. There was nothing to be seen but the sputtering of rain. "Who are you?"

"We are the Ezz… Ezz… Ezz… e… Do not worr… we… ll… mee… some……"

"Who are you?!"

There was no reply.

"Why are you calling out to me?" Selphie covered her face in frustration. At that moment, she felt small… alone… and most of all, troubled. "I must be going crazy…" Those were her last words before she set her face on the stone cold street, face first, wet, and shivering.

And as she was sprawled in her frosty and unforgiving bed, falling swiftly into the well of her subconscious, for once, the one gleeful hymn that constantly played in her head wasn't there to ease her troubles.

OXOXOXOXO

**Chapter Seven Postscript: **Hope you liked this chapter and learned a bit more about Selphie. As always, comments, reviews, suggestions, questions, and criticisms are always welcome to my mind. But, don't just write them in your minds, after your hard work of reading this chapter; please do let me know by leaving your opinions here. Also, the next chapter (Chapter 8) will be titled "Obstacle Training", and you will get to know more about the new characters that I have invented. I hope that you get to like them… Well, this is it. Farewell for now.

**Replies to Readers:**

**CristalBlueRose: **I'm glad that you've kept up with the story since the beginning, and I really appreciate it that you're the most loyal reader of my story at the time. Thanks! Anyways, you were right about Chapter 6 being more comedy than romantic, and I will try to be better in the romance aspect next time.

**That-FF13-Girl: **Thanks for spending the time to read my story, and it's nice that you're really being honest. But what do you mean by "it sorta lost it in the beginning" in your Ch. 2 review? Do you mean that the whole story lost its magic when Chapter 2 started or when chapter 1 started? What about the chapters after those two? Anyways, I respect your opinions on Millea and the other characters. However, I will further explore their past and hopefully you will get to know them more.


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